Forum Orders Air India To Refund Fare With Compensation
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in Financial Services
Air India
Ref. : ER/press/’07/Airin.21
Air India
It held the airline guilty of deficiency in service and directed it to refund the Seths Rs.2,43,241/- with 9 per cent interest from the date of complaint until realisation and Rs.10,000/- as compensation for mental agony, inconvenience and cost.
Mr. Seth and his wife had booked business class tickets for an Air India flight from New York to Mumbai on 14 October 2004 and paid a total of Rs.2,43,241/-.
Mr. K. K. Bajaj, Director (hon.), CERS, in his representation to the GERC, had not only pleaded for the continuance of separate tariffs for Ahmedabad and Surat, but also objected to the inclusion of unscheduled interchange (UI) charges in the FPPPA formula. CERS had also expressed its concern about the misuse of the FPPPA formula by the power distribution companies and requested the GERC to print as a footnote on electricity bills as and when the FPPPA charges are revised with the approval of the GERC.
At London, their complaint was not resolved. Ultimately, they couldn’t get the promised seats and had to travel uncomfortably, resulting in aggravated backache, mental and physical harassment.
Back home, the Seths approached Air India which regretted their inconvenience and offered them free tickets for the Mumbai- London- Mumbai sector, which they rejected. Then they were offered free tickets for Mumbai- New York. Hence, the Seths did not accept the offer. Air India turned down their request for tickets with a stopover at London.
The couple approached CERS which subsequently had to issue a legal notice to the opposite party calling upon it to refund the air fare to the complainants. In the absence of any response, CERS and the couple filed a complaint with the Forum.
The Forum observed that the complainants had paid for business class seats, but had been provided with defective seats. As a result, they had to bear physical discomfort and mental harassment. The Forum held Air India guilty of deficiency in service.
Mr.P.U.Rana presided over the Forum with Mrs.Nandiniben Thaker as Member. Mr.K.H.Khatwani appeared for the complainants.
Date : 16/08/2007 Pritee Shah
Place: Ahmedabad Editor,Insight-The Consumer Magazine
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CONSUMER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTRE
