Hyderabad: The Hyderabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-III has directed Qatar Airways and online travel agency EaseMyTrip to jointly pay Rs 3,06,168 to a family after a passenger cancelled his US trip following a diagnosis of malignant brain tumour.
NDTV and Times of India (ToI) reported that the commission issued the order on September 29, 2026, awarding a refund of Rs 1,86,168 with 12 per cent annual interest, Rs 1 lakh in compensation for mental agony and inconvenience, and Rs 20,000 towards litigation costs. The companies must comply within 45 days of receiving the order.
Passenger sought medical refund for cancelled trip
Raghuram Yamarthi and his wife, Shaal Rekha Yamarthi, booked return tickets from Hyderabad to Atlanta in the United States through EaseMyTrip on August 2, 2024. Their departure was scheduled for December 2 that year.
On November 1, Raghuram suffered a seizure. Medical investigations revealed a brain tumour, later diagnosed as malignant. He underwent surgery on November 12 and was advised to receive six weeks of radiation treatment.
The following days, he contacted Qatar Airways to explain his medical emergency and request a full refund. The airline directed him to approach EaseMyTrip because the tickets had been booked through the agency.
Raghuram emailed the platform on November 15 and submitted medical records on November 17. He was later informed that Qatar Airways had rejected the medical waiver request, citing a delay in its submission.
According to the complaint, repeated follow-ups failed to resolve the dispute. EaseMyTrip allegedly offered to refund around Rs 95,000 if the tickets were cancelled without a medical waiver. Raghuram subsequently issued a legal notice and approached the consumer commission.
He died while the case was pending. On February 24, the commission allowed his children, Yamarthi Revanth and Yamarthi Rachna, to continue the proceedings as his legal representatives.
Commission rejects companies’ defence
Qatar Airways argued that EaseMyTrip was responsible for processing the refund because the tickets had been booked through the agency. The airline also said it had offered the passenger the option of keeping the tickets open for future travel.
The bench, comprising commission president M Ramgopal Reddy and members J Shyamala and D Sreedevi, examined the medical records, email exchanges and the airline’s published refund policy.
The commission noted that the policy provided for medical refund requests in cases involving terminal illness before departure, subject to a valid medical certificate. It found that Raghuram’s medical documents established the seriousness of his condition and his inability to travel.
The bench held that the medical waiver request required proper consideration and rejected the companies’ attempts to shift responsibility. It noted that EaseMyTrip had forwarded the medical documents to Qatar Airways.
The commission concluded that the companies had failed to adequately address the refund request, amounting to a deficiency in service.
