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Air India directed to pay compensation

By Staff Reporter - 15 Sep 2010 12:00 AM GMT

GUWAHATI, March 25 � In an important verdict, the Court of State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Assam, has directed the National Aviation Company Ltd (Air India) to pay a compensation of Rs 57,360 for �deficiency in service and causing mental agony� to two passengers.

The case in brief is that the two complainants, Ashish Dey and Tonvito Aye, both hailing from Dimapur and who had purchased confirmed air tickets bearing PNR No RBRZV8 in the Silchar-Guwahati flight No IC 7760 with OK status on September 30, 2007, were denied boarding passes at the Silchar Airport despite the fact that they had arrived at the airport well ahead of scheduled time. The alleged plea on the part of the airport authorities was that the boarding passes could not be issued since two close allies of the Civil Aviation Minister had to be accommodated in the same flight.

Ultimately, the complainants had to buy tickets for an Air Deccan flight for the journey via Imphal to attend their pre-arranged business meetings. The late arrival of the flight resulted in their missing the Jana Shatabdi Express by which they were to travel from Guwahati to Dimapur. Although a legal notice was sent to the chairman and managing director and the regional director (East) of the National Aviation Company Ltd, and the authorities concerned of the Silchar Airport, citing the incidents and facts besides claims for compensation, the opposite parties denied all the contentions of the complainants.

Following the complaint filed at the Commission, the two-member team of the Commission remarked in its judgement that there was strong evidence to show deficiency in service on the part of the Air India authorities.

�It is crystal clear that they had overbooked the flight than the capacity of the aircraft. So the officials of Air India are to be blamed for the mess created by them. Once the airlines issues a ticket with confirmed status, it has no business to offload passengers. In no eventuality any passenger with a confirmed ticket can be put into jeopardy by offloading him after he reaches the airport in time. In such cases, the mental agony and trauma suffered by such passengers will be immense. Therefore we find that the authority of Air India is wholly deficient in service,� the judgement read.

Advocates Manoj Kumar Sharma and Sumanta Madhab Baruah appeared for the complainants.