Airline penalised for deficiency in service

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 25

A private airline has been penalised by the consumer forum here for not allowing a Chandigarh-based couple to board a plane to Kerala. Air Vistara has been directed to pay nearly 30,000 to Vikram Bains.

As per the complaint, in November 2017, the couple had reached the airport 45 minutes prior to the scheduled departure. However, the airline did not allow Bains and his wife to board the flight saying they were late. The Delhi to Cochin flight was scheduled to take off at 6 am on November 15. The couple had to arrange tickets from some other airline for their onward journey. They later asked for a refund, which was denied by Air Vistara. Bains, thus, approached the consumer forum.

The airline in its reply pleaded that the complainant approached the check-in counter of the IGI Airport at 05:27 hours for a flight scheduled for departure at 06:00 hours, which was 12 minutes past closure of the check-in counter and only three minutes before the closure of boarding gates. The ticket of the complainant was hence considered a ‘no show’ and alleged negligence on part of the complainant.

After listening to the arguments, the forum observed that the airline had “miserably failed to produce any documentary evidence to show that the complainant had arrived a few minutes late to the ticket counter”.

For not allowing the couple to board the plane for ‘irrational reasons’, the forum stated that it amounts to deficiency in service. It further stated how it caused unprecedented physical and mental harassment to the couple.

Puru Jarewal, counsel for the couple, said the actual reason was overbooking by the airline. The forum asked the airline to refund Rs 17,844 to the couple, along with Rs 7,000 compensation and Rs 5,000 as cost of litigation.