The suspension of operations by several tour operators with the RossTour booking center has put hundreds of agencies at risk: according to experts, retailers will now have to deal with claims from tourists whose vacations were cancelled. Alexander Baiborodin, head of the company "Lawyers for Business Baiborodin and Partners," told the portal "Travel Russian News" what agencies should do in the current situation.
"The situation is challenging for travel agents. It's clear that, as has happened many times before, agents will bear the brunt of complaints and lawsuits from tourists," the expert emphasizes.
As for the travel agent's defense, according to Alexander Bayborodin, they could be as follows:
- Firstly, several RossTour legal entities were registered as tour operators and held financial guarantees totaling 150,000,000 rubles. This raises the question: which legal entity was specified in the agent's contracts with the tourist? If RossTour was specified, the agent's risks are significantly reduced. In this case, agents can cite Article 9 of the Federal Law "On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activity in the Russian Federation" regarding the tour operator's liability for fulfilling contractual obligations. Furthermore, if RossTour officially announces the termination of its tour operator activities, tourists and agents have the opportunity to receive compensation from the insurer by filing a claim. If another tour operator was specified in the contract with the tourist, both travel agents and tourists lose the opportunity to appeal to the insurer, and the tourists will have to pursue legal action to recover funds.
- Secondly, it's important to remember that an agent is always an intermediary and acts on behalf of and at the expense of the Principal, regardless of whether the Principal is registered as a tour operator. According to the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation "On the Court's Consideration of Civil Cases Regarding Disputes Regarding Consumer Rights Protection," the travel agent's (intermediary's) liability is limited to the amount of the agency fee. Therefore, under no circumstances may the travel agent's liability exceed the amount of the agency fee.
Recommendations at this time may be as follows::
- to contact the insurer or RossTour on behalf of tourists in pre-trial and judicial proceedings
- refund tourists' money in full or in part by concluding non-claims agreements
- refuse to refund funds with reference to the law, judicial practice and the intermediary nature of the agent's actions.
Source: trn-news.ru