The Muzaffarpur Consumer Commission fined Tata-owned Air India (AI) Rs 5.5 lakhs for deboarding Aditya and his colleague, who had booked Delhi-Bangkok flights for a business trip at Kolkata in February 2022. The post Air India Fined 5.5 Lakh...
GURUGRAM- The Muzaffarpur Consumer Commission fined Tata-owned Air India (AI) Rs 5.5 lakhs for deboarding Aditya and his colleague, who had booked Delhi-Bangkok flights for a business trip at Kolkata in February 2022.
The Commission ordered the airline to compensate both passengers within 45 days. Aditya and his colleague were scheduled to fly from Delhi via Kolkata but inexplicably offloaded at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. Forced to return to Delhi on another flight, Aditya, disgruntled and embarrassed, filed a complaint with the Consumer Commission upon reaching his Muzaffarpur home.
Photo: By Laurent ERRERA from L'Union, France – Airbus A320-200 Air India (AIC) F-WWBD – MSN 4201 – Will be VT-EDC, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29540713
Air India Fined 5.5 Lakh
Air India’s defense at the court hearing, claiming Aditya and his colleague lacked Thailand’s boarding pass and required COVID-19 vaccination certificates, was rejected by the Consumer Commission.
The Commission reasoned that if passengers lacked the necessary documents, tickets should have been canceled upfront.
Deboarding them in Kolkata without prior notice constituted a “service error,” prompting the Commission to order Air India to compensate the passengers with the ticket price and applicable interest.
Photo: Air India
Ordered to Pay 2 Lakh
Earlier this week, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) directed Air India to pay compensation of ?2 lakh to four passengers due to a flight delay in 2003. During that time, the airline was owned by the government of India.
The commission ruled that the airline breached its obligations in cancellations or significant delays, as it failed to deliver necessary services, including hospitality, food, accommodation, and transportation, per established protocols.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) emphasized that airlines are responsible for caring for stranded passengers, particularly when they miss connecting flights, especially if those connections are with the same carrier, as in the current case.
In its December 6 order, the commission stated that in situations of flight cancellations or significant delays, passengers are entitled to essential services such as hospitality, food, accommodation, and transport, following established airline protocols.
Finding Air India culpable for not meeting these obligations, the commission increased the compensation to Rs. 1.75 lakhs (for all four complainants combined). It awarded litigation costs of Rs. 25,000 to be paid by Air India to the complainants.
Read more about what happened here: Air India Fined 2 Lakh for A Flight Delay in 2003 – Aviation A2Z
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