VGP’s failure to provide scuba dive footage costs it Rs 55,000

Chennai: A Chennai consumer court has ordered VGP Marine Kingdom to pay ₹55,000 as compensation to a man for its deficiency in service. The marine aquarium collected charges to provide underwater footage.

However, the promised video was never sent, and it gave conflicting explanations for the missing footage.The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chennai (North), including president D Gopinath, members Kavitha Kannan and T R Sivakumhar passed the order on a complaint filed by J Jayaseelan in June 2025.Jayaseelan booked a scuba diving session with videography for himself and his wife to celebrate her birthday, paying ₹11,360.

His wife did not participate after becoming anxious during a delay, but Jayaseelan completed the dive after staff promised him the underwater footage would be shared later, but it was not.Despite repeated follow-ups, the aquarium came up with excuses such as unclear footage and the recording being deleted due to a technical issue. A video that was eventually sent to him showed another person, the complainant said.

Opposing the claim, the aquarium argued that the couple did not complete the scuba session, that videography was only incidental to the activity, and that it offered either a refund or a fresh dive with videography.The commission said collecting separate charges for videography created an obligation to provide the footage. It noted that the aquarium failed to produce any technical evidence to support its claim of accidental deletion and had given inconsistent explanations.

The bench also said the offer of a refund or a reshoot amounted to an acknowledgement that the promised service had not been delivered.VGP Marine Kingdom was directed to pay ₹50,000 as compensation, including the refund amount, and ₹5,000 towards litigation costs within 45 days. If the amount is not paid within the stipulated period, it will carry 9% annual interest from the date of filing of the complaint.