WWICS Immigration Consultancy Consumer Complaint

WWICS Immigration Consultancy Consumer Complaint wherein the refund was allowed from court with interest for not delivering on promise.

Let’s have the judgment here-

SONAM SEHGAL V. WORLDWIDE IMMIGRATION CONSULTANCY SERVICES PVT. LTD., 30^th July, 2018

Today we are going to talk about the case of Sonam Sehgal v. WWICS (worldwide immigration consultancy services Pvt. Ltd., 30^th July, 2018. The advocates for the complainant side were Sh. Gangadeep Goel argued by Sh. Amit Kumar, authorized agent of opposite parties and for the respondents

(opposition) that were ‘in person’ (hasn’t appoint any lawyer and fighting the case itself).

The case was about committed fraud by the immigration service consultancy firm for Sonam Sehgal (complainant) as, she wants an immigration to Australia and submitted the amount and the documents that were being asked to submit but the company didn’t properly respond to that and because of that the complainant filed a case against the company for deficiency in service and unfair trade practice. Now to state the facts, issues and judgement regarding the case it as follows:

Also Read- Shri Surender Minhas v. Worldwide Immigration Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd.

The case was filed under section 2(11), of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (deficiency in service) and section 2(1)(r) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (unfair trade practice). The complainant by seeing the advertisement visited the opposition office for immigration to Australia and paid an amount of Rs.1,22,880/- through credit card of her husband in two installments of Rs.1,03,500/- on 10^th May, 2017 and Rs.19,380/- on 25^th May, 2017. Later on, the complainant came to know that an amount of Rs.19,380/- on 25^th May, 2017 has been carried out in UAE without the consent of her or her husband.
The complainant also averred that she never signed any document at their time of applying for immigration for Australia, but still she received the copy of an agreement from the opposition no.1 on every page her signatures were reflecting whereas she did not sign any such document. She was also surprised to see the terms & conditions of the agreement which were absolutely prejudicial to her rights.

Also Read- WWICS Estate PVT Ltd Consumer Complaint Case

It was averred that after the receipt of the amount Rs.1,22,880/- the opposition started ignoring the complainant and did not give her any information about the status of his application. The opposition not even processed the case file and kept on delaying the matter on one pretext or the other. She claimed that the opposition had retained her hard-earned money. That’s why she alleged of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on the part of opposition no. 2.
The opposition to all that replied that the complainant had retained the professional service of the opposition company for grant of permanent resident visa under state territory nominated independent for Australia and accordingly. The complainant had entered into a contract of engagement on 10^th May, 2017 with the opposition company and as per clause 3 of said contract, the complainant had paid an amount of Rs.90,000/- as professional fee which was totally non-refundable and further an amount of Rs.13,500/- also paid by her towards service tax which has been deposited with government tax authorities which was also non-refundable.

Also Read- Shri Surender Minhas v. Worldwide Immigration Consultancy Services Ltd (WWICS)

It was also turned out that the complainant had entered into a separate contract of engagement on 10^th May, 2017 with M/S Global strategic business consultancy, Dubai for availing their professional service and as per the contract, the complainant had paid an amount of US $ 300 which was equivalent to Rs.19,380/- to the said company and same cannot be refunded by the opposition company. It was also stated that the complainant after the contract was required to submit complete documents within 30 days but after the period of 30 days, she only forwarded her Resume to the opposition company on 13^th June, 2017.
The complainant was asked to send her updated resume with the job duties, but she failed to submit other documents as were required neither the requisite embassy fee etc. and instead became disinterested and started asking refund. The complainant was also not entitled to any refund being a case of non-cooperation and voluntarily withdrawal. The opposition company was still ready and willing to process the immigration case of the complainant provided she submit complete documents. Pleading no deficiency in service and denying all other allegations, opposition have prayed for dismissal of the complaint.

Also Read- Consumer Complaints against WWICS for Immigration Fraud

The Court have heard the learned counsel of the parties and have also perused the record. There is no evidence adduced by the complainant to prove any undue influence, coercion or pressure on the part of opposition to engage them for her immigration services. It was purely a willful and thoughtful personal choice on the part of the complainant and her family to engage the opposition to fulfill her desire for immigration to Australia. The opposition admit to have received the said payment from the complainant, but stated that the service tax of Rs.13,500/- has been deposited with the government and is non-refundable from the government agency. The opposite parties have also stated that the payment of Rs.19,380/- paid by the complainant for the purpose of their professional consultancy service was also non-refundable and moreover, the complainant had not impleaded the said company as party in the present case. The complainant has also engaged the services of the opposition and entered into contract of engagement on 10^th May, 2017, but due to reasons best known to her, she has second thought and abandoned her plan to immigrate to Australia and preferred for refund of the amount on 21^st July, 2017 which she paid to the opposition n. 9

Also Read- WWICS Ltd. v. Veena | State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum Jalandhar

It transpires that the complainant herself has abandoned her plan to go to Australia for which she earlier engaged the services of opposition for her immigration case. There was no willful lapse, default or any kind of deficiency in service on the part of opposition. Keeping the choice of the complainant the amount that she has deposited should be paid back after deducting service tax, at the most. The opposite parties definitely have no legal right to usurp the whole amount of the complainant because the immigration process was dropped due to change of plan by the complainant.
The amount of Rs.19,380/- paid in favor of M/S global strategic business consultancy, Dubai had been actually paid through WWICS no.1 hence opposition no.1 was liable to refund the same to the complainant. Keeping into consideration the facts and circumstances, as discussed in the preceding paragraphs, and natural Justice, this complaint was allowed with directions to opposition to pay back the balance amount of Rs.1,09,380/- (90,000/- + Rs.19,380/-) to the complainant with interest @9% p.a. from 10^th May, 2017 till payment, along with litigation costs of Rs.5,000/- within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order. Certified copy of this order be forwarded to the parties, free of charge. The judgement was being decided by Rajan Dewan (President), Priti Malhotra (Member), Ravinder Singh (Member).

Also Read- Consumer Complaint against WWICS Immigration Consultant

CONCLUSION

The judgement decided in this case was at all justified from all the sides. As the fraud that has been committed by the company and due to unforeseen circumstances, the complainant revoked the plan for Australia the situation had been very difficult to decide whether who is and how right is the truth lies between both the parties. The Court has to decide according to best of their knowledge and in which party the justice is prevailed.

This post is written by Sammyak Jain.

For case specific advice please contact Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Lawyer Advocates in Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali Kharar Zirakpur.