In a rare occurrence involving “loss of work,” a district consumer commission has instructed Air India to compensate a 33-year-old private company employee with Rs 85,000 for the delay exceeding 24 hours of his Bangkok-Mumbai flight in 2018. Allegedly scheduled to depart Bangkok on a Sunday evening and arrive early Monday, the flight instead departed late Monday evening, causing substantial inconvenience.
“As the complainant has pointed out deficiency in service of the opponent, an is entitled to get compensation for physical and mental agony, loss of work but not fully what he has prayed i.e. Proper to impose costs of litigation upon the opponent,” Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Commission said Mar 21.
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The commission ruled that due to the airline’s negligence, the delay occurred, leading to physical and mental distress for the complainant, Mohit Nigam, and resulting in a loss of work. While Nigam’s request for a refund of the flight tickets was denied, the commission emphasized that he had traveled without any issues from Mumbai to Bangkok and hadn’t incurred additional expenses for purchasing another air ticket.
Nigam presented information obtained through a Right To Information query to the commission, revealing that the delay was attributed to the airline’s negligence. The flight was scheduled to arrive from New Delhi to Bangkok before departing for Mumbai.
Delay of almost 24 hours in departure of flight seems to have caused because the opponent at New Delhi Airport did not follow the scheduled mandatory requirements, which should have been done before departure of the flight. It was duty of the opponent to follow mandatory check-ups before departure of flight, in which they failed. The RTI document submitted by the complainant clearly establishes the mistake on the part of the opponent,” the commission said.
The commission emphasized that the inconvenience and mental distress experienced by the complainant warranted compensation. However, it denied Nigam’s request for a refund of the flight tickets, noting his smooth travel experience from Mumbai to Bangkok
Nigam stated that he arrived at the airport three hours before the scheduled departure time, obtained his boarding pass, and waited at the boarding gate. However, the flight was delayed. He mentioned that passengers were informed that the flight would depart at 3 am, prompting everyone to board and await departure. Subsequently, it was announced that the flight had been canceled. This state of confusion persisted until 5 am, following which passengers were offered hotel accommodations.
