National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission: The Hotels Cannot Escape From Its Liability In Case A Vehicle Goes Missing From Its Parking Space, Merely By Mentioning The Tag ‘At Owners Risk’ In The Parking.

The National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission has held that the hotels cannot escape from its liability in case a vehicle goes missing from its parking space, merely by mentioning the tag ‘at owners risk’ in the parking.
The order was passed by single-member bench of M Shreesha . The apex consumer forum was hearing a negligence case filed against the Taj Mansingh Hotel of Delhi, by one Sapan Dhawan who had gone to the hotel on August 1988, to have dinner at 11 pm and had given the keys of his Maruti Zen car for parking. He was also given a parking slip. However, when he returned from dinner he learnt that his car was driven by some unknown person.
The hotel had denied any negligence on its part when Dhawan sought Rs 5.3 lakh as compensation. The hotel argued there was no negligence on its part and the parking slip clearly mentioned the vehicle was being parked at the request of the guest at his own risk.
 
But the NCDRC observed that as per the doctrine of ‘infra hospitium’, the hotel’s ‘duty of care’ towards guests’ vehicle does not stop with mere parking of the vehicles.
“When the parking tag is issued in the name of the hotel, it can be reasonably inferred by the ‘car owner’ that the car would be in the ‘duty of care’ and custody of the hotel, which in this case, it failed to exercise and is held liable to pay damages,” NCDRC member Shreesha said.
The Commission ordered the hotel to pay a compensation of Rs. 2.8 lakh to the United India Insurance Company which had insured the car and to pay an interest at the rate of 9% from January 28, 1999.