Skypride Travel and Tours and Suppiah Sakthivel charged

TORONTO — 1807201 Ontario Limited operating as Skypride Travel and Tours, a registered travel agent that operated in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario and Suppiah Sakthivel, Director of Skypride, were each charged under the Travel Industry Act, 2002 (the Act) and Ontario Regulation 26/05 made under the Act (the Regulation) with the following offences:

Skypride

16 counts of failing to deposit customer funds in the trust account, contrary to s. 27(3) of the Regulation; 22 counts of failing to hold customer funds in the trust account contrary to section 27(6) of the Regulation.

Suppiah Sakthivel

16 counts of failing to take reasonable care to prevent Skypride from committing an offence of failing to deposit customer funds into the trust account, contrary to s. 27(3) of the Regulation; 22 counts of failing to take reasonable care to prevent Skypride from committing an offence of failing to hold customer funds in the trust account contrary to section 27(6) of the Regulation.

The first court appearance in the above matter is scheduled for Sept. 23 at 9 a.m. at the Ontario Court of Justice, Provincial Offences Court, located at 465 Davis Drive in Newmarket.

Also this week, the TICO Board of Directors approved payment of $2,844 to assist four consumers who did not receive the travel services for which they had paid. The payment was due to the closure of Blue Mountain Travel in Toronto ($400) and SkyGreece Airlines S.A. ($2,444).

In other news, following TICO’s Annual General Meeting this week, TICO’s new Board of Directors named Scott Stewart as Vice Chair of the Board. Stewart is President of G. Stewart Travel Services Ltd., associate member of Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Retail and Stewart Tours, Wholesale in Peterborough, Ontario.

The Vice Chair appointment is for one year until TICO’s next Annual General Meeting to be held in 2017.

Stewart was also the successful candidate elected by the industry at large to the TICO Board of Directors for a three-year position that was open to a wholesale registrant.

“On behalf of TICO’s Board of Directors we wish to congratulate Scott Stewart on his re-appointment to the Board. Scott’s contributions to TICO have been invaluable and we are pleased to have him back on the Board,” said Richard Smart, TICO President and CEO.