Airline asked to pay for harassing passenger
Consumer forum awards Piyush Doshi Rs 3K for mental harassment and Rs 1,500 towards legal cost after his Srinagar-Delhi SpiceJet flight is cancelled
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, February 12, 2013 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2013021220130212040545704a1925be8/Airline-asked-to-pay-for-harassing-passenger.html)
An airline company has been ordered to compensate a passenger for mental harassment and expenses towards filing of application. The Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum Ahmedabad City in its January 28 order ruled that SpiceJet must pay the complainant Piyush Doshi Rs 3,000 for mental harassment and Rs 1,500 towards legal cost.
Doshi, a resident of Akshardham Tower in Shahibaug, had booked a return flight from Ahmedabad to Delhi and Srinagar on June 8, 2010. He was to take the SpiceJet flight from Srinagar to Delhi on June 17 at 11.50 am. Both Doshi and his wife reached the airport more than an hour before the scheduled departure.
They frequently checked with the airport counter regarding the flight, but received evasive replies. Finally, at 2 pm, they were told that their flight was cancelled. When they made a hue and cry, Airport Authority of India intervened and provided them a ticket for the next day at 2.40 pm. Subsequently, Doshi filed a complaint in September 2010 with the consumer forum, making SpiceJet the first party and Make My Trip the second party.
He said, “We had to spend Rs 12,000 on boarding and lodging for a day, which we were not compensated for by the airline. Moreover, the delay in the connecting flight resulted in us spending extra money on food and on taxi.” The collector’s office employee also claimed loss of pay for two days as he was to join on June 18, but reached Ahmedabad on 19. Since the next day was Sunday, he could only attend office on 21st, his complaint states.
He made a claim of Rs 17,500 with 12 per cent interest, plus Rs 5,000 for mental harassment and Rs 25,000 towards legal expenses. In its argument, the SpiceJet counsel said the case fell under the Carriage by Air Act and as per clause17, the airline can’t be held responsible for delay, cancellation, diversion, bad weather or unforeseen circumstances.
As per clause 25, if a flight is delayed or cancelled for some reason, then the airline is not bound to provide accommodation, transportation or other facilities to the passengers. We cancelled the flight taking into account the safety of passengers. The flight was cancelled due to technical reasons and they had provided the information to the passenger, so the complaint is false, the airline counsel argued.
The passengers of the flight were informed that the airline is ready to refund their ticket money or they were free to board another flight. However, the airline specially accommodated the Doshis in the next day’s flight and also gave them two flight vouchers of Rs 1,500 each, which they later used for a Mumbai to Ahmedabad and from Kolkata to Ahmedabad flights.
Make My Trip in its argument said their job was only to book tickets, which they did. After hearing the arguments, the court said that Doshi was not able to establish the losses he suffered due to the delay in the flight. Also, SpiceJet also couldn’t provide documents to justify the cancellation of the flight, so there was deficiency in service.
Since the passenger has availed of both the vouchers of Rs 1,500 each, and did not mention this important fact before the court, the complainant’s intentions were not above board. Taking this into consideration, the court ordered the airline to pay Rs 3,000 for mental harassment and Rs 1,500 towards legal expenses.
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, February 12, 2013 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2013021220130212040545704a1925be8/Airline-asked-to-pay-for-harassing-passenger.html)
An airline company has been ordered to compensate a passenger for mental harassment and expenses towards filing of application. The Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum Ahmedabad City in its January 28 order ruled that SpiceJet must pay the complainant Piyush Doshi Rs 3,000 for mental harassment and Rs 1,500 towards legal cost.
Doshi, a resident of Akshardham Tower in Shahibaug, had booked a return flight from Ahmedabad to Delhi and Srinagar on June 8, 2010. He was to take the SpiceJet flight from Srinagar to Delhi on June 17 at 11.50 am. Both Doshi and his wife reached the airport more than an hour before the scheduled departure.
They frequently checked with the airport counter regarding the flight, but received evasive replies. Finally, at 2 pm, they were told that their flight was cancelled. When they made a hue and cry, Airport Authority of India intervened and provided them a ticket for the next day at 2.40 pm. Subsequently, Doshi filed a complaint in September 2010 with the consumer forum, making SpiceJet the first party and Make My Trip the second party.He said, “We had to spend Rs 12,000 on boarding and lodging for a day, which we were not compensated for by the airline. Moreover, the delay in the connecting flight resulted in us spending extra money on food and on taxi.” The collector’s office employee also claimed loss of pay for two days as he was to join on June 18, but reached Ahmedabad on 19. Since the next day was Sunday, he could only attend office on 21st, his complaint states.
He made a claim of Rs 17,500 with 12 per cent interest, plus Rs 5,000 for mental harassment and Rs 25,000 towards legal expenses. In its argument, the SpiceJet counsel said the case fell under the Carriage by Air Act and as per clause17, the airline can’t be held responsible for delay, cancellation, diversion, bad weather or unforeseen circumstances.
As per clause 25, if a flight is delayed or cancelled for some reason, then the airline is not bound to provide accommodation, transportation or other facilities to the passengers. We cancelled the flight taking into account the safety of passengers. The flight was cancelled due to technical reasons and they had provided the information to the passenger, so the complaint is false, the airline counsel argued.
The passengers of the flight were informed that the airline is ready to refund their ticket money or they were free to board another flight. However, the airline specially accommodated the Doshis in the next day’s flight and also gave them two flight vouchers of Rs 1,500 each, which they later used for a Mumbai to Ahmedabad and from Kolkata to Ahmedabad flights.
Make My Trip in its argument said their job was only to book tickets, which they did. After hearing the arguments, the court said that Doshi was not able to establish the losses he suffered due to the delay in the flight. Also, SpiceJet also couldn’t provide documents to justify the cancellation of the flight, so there was deficiency in service.
Since the passenger has availed of both the vouchers of Rs 1,500 each, and did not mention this important fact before the court, the complainant’s intentions were not above board. Taking this into consideration, the court ordered the airline to pay Rs 3,000 for mental harassment and Rs 1,500 towards legal expenses.
