A Delhi consumer commission has ordered Shakti Travels and the owner of an intercity sleeper bus to jointly pay ₹20,000, with 9% interest, after a family that had booked sleeper seats was made to travel on plastic stools and later abandoned near Narnaul in Haryana.
The North-East District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission treated the conduct as a deficiency in service, according to a report by Live Hindustan – NCR. The ordered amount is around five times the ₹4,800 the family paid for six bus seats.
The case concerns Rajendra Singh Tomar, a resident of Brahmpuri, and his family. According to the complaint, Tomar booked six sleeper seats in a Shakti Travels bus on 1 January 2025 to return to Delhi after a family trip to Khatu Shyam Ji. He paid ₹4,800 for the booking.
The bus was scheduled to leave at 11 am but departed at about 1.30 pm, or two and a half hours late, the complaint said. Soon after the journey began, the conductor allegedly told the family that some seats had been allocated to other passengers through online bookings. The family was asked to vacate its reserved sleeper seats and was made to travel on plastic stools instead.
The seating dispute was followed by a more serious disruption later in the journey. At about 10.40 pm, the bus stopped near Narnaul in Haryana. The driver and conductor allegedly said the bus had broken down and refused to take the passengers further. No alternative transport was arranged for the stranded passengers, according to the complaint.
The family then hired a private taxi at a cost of ₹4,600 to reach Delhi around midnight before approaching the consumer commission. The additional expense was almost equal to the original bus fare, while the family had also spent the journey without the sleeper accommodation it had paid for.
During the hearing, the bench comprising commission president Surinder Kumar Sharma and member Adarsh Nain found that the complainant had submitted the ticket, payment details and other documentary evidence supporting the allegations. The report said the opposing parties did not refute those documents.
The ruling places responsibility on both the travel agency and the bus owner rather than treating the incident only as a dispute involving onboard staff. It also records the commission’s finding that collecting payment for reserved sleeper seats, removing passengers from those seats, providing inadequate seating and leaving them without onward assistance amounted to deficient service.
The order requires Shakti Travels and the bus owner to pay the total ₹20,000 with 9% interest. The report does not specify the date by which the payment must be made or provide further details on any separate compensation or compliance proceedings.
