Bengaluru: A routine forex transaction after a Bangkok trip landed three Electronics City residents in a consumer dispute, with a Bengaluru consumer dispute redressal commission holding a KIA airport money exchange outlet guilty of unfair trade practices for charging differential currency conversion fees and ordering compensation for the complainants.The commission bench, comprising president Shivarama K and members Chandrashekar S Noola and Rekha Sayannavar, on Jan 9, 2026, ordered Ebixcash World Money to refund the differential amount by recalculating the conversion charges at 9.84%. It was also directed to pay Rs 5,000 in compensation and litigation costs.In Jan 2025, brothers Vincent K J, 52, and Joy K J, 54, along with their father Jacob A J, 70, returned to Bengaluru from Bangkok. The family alleged that staff at the airport offered to convert the Thai Baht they were carrying into Indian rupees at Rs 2.41 per Baht.The travellers handed over the Baht in three parts equalling Rs 26,470, Rs 29,190, and Rs 27,200 to the exchange house. Later, they realised Ebixcash World Money had levied exorbitantly high conversion charges, which, along with 18% GST, amounted to Rs 20,697. The charges came as a rude shock, as they had earlier paid only a nominal Rs 50 handling fee plus 18% GST when buying Baht in Basavanagudi prior to their trip.Feeling cheated, the family filed a consumer complaint on Aug 29, alleging unfair trade practices. The exchange house argued that conversion rates, charges, GST, and terms were clearly displayed at the outlet, and that the complainants had approached it voluntarily. It added that KIA is a restricted area, where operational costs such as rent run into crores, making airport rates higher than city exchange rates. After reviewing the documents and hearing both the parties, the III Additional Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ruled that the family had paid between Rs 6,323 and Rs 7,465 in conversion charges at the airport, whereas city-based exchange houses charged only a nominal fee of Rs 250. The commission noted: “On the same day, for the same foreign currency, different rates were applied without any rational basis. Such differential charging, without transparency or uniformity, is discriminatory and clearly amounts to an unfair trade.” It further observed that the money exchange outlet at the airport had failed to disclose the percentages charged, denying informed consent.
