Which Right Choice magazine story on Timeshare and your Legal Rights

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Runjhun

Which Right Choice magazine has covered the issue of timeshare properties which are sold in the form of memberships. For example, Mahindra Holidays, Country Club Vacations etc.

Here is the story on their website – http://whichrightchoice.com/timeshare/. Here is a PDF link to the full story. Hope it is useful to our readers.

About the magazine -

Which? started as an organization over 50 years ago in the UK to create awareness among UK consumers. Which? Right Choice magazine is run in India by Hill Road Media and in our personal experience, the best consumer rights/awareness/product reviews magazine for India. It is a pity that they don’t allow people to access the full content online for free.

Jet Airways consumer gets 40,000 compensation for deficient service complaint

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Runjhun

Mr. Bhujanga Shetty booked two tickets from Jet Airways to travel from Bangalore to Mangalore on 26th August 2010 by paying Rs. 8,000.

On arriving at the airport the Shetty family was shocked when they were informed that the flight has been cancelled. The airline staff did not inform them in advance or made any alternative possible arrangements and offered them to refund the ticket amount.

As Shetty family was in hurry they had to take the refund and buy the tickets of next available flight at double the price. Shetty later filed the complaint at the Consumer Forum seeking a compensation of Rs. 28,288 for all additional charges they had to incur because of the last moment cancellation.

Dakshina Kannada District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum directed the airlines to pay a compensation amount of Rs. 40,000 to the couple for canceling a flight without making alternative arrangements.

In response to the complaint against Jet Airways India Limited, the company said that the flight was rerouted to Bangalore due to bad weather. They also claimed that they informed Shetty family of other arrangements but they opted for a refund..

Forum president Asha Shetty, quoting National commission’s order in Dr Arun Jain versus Thai Airways International limited case, said the airlines had failed to make alternative arrangements for the couple. It directed Jet Airways to pay a higher compensation of Rs. 40,000 to the complainant.

See more articles on Airline sector here.

See more company pages:

Air Arabia Complaint

Air India Complaint

Indigo Airlines Complaint

Jet Airways complaint

File your complaint here.

Picture from here.

Consumer gets 1 Lakh in Misbehaviour Complaint Against Air India

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Runjhun

The Delhi District Consumer Redressal Forum direct Air India to pay Rs. 1 Lakh as compensation.

That the complainant was flying from Delhi to Kolkata in March 2011. He and his family was first issued wrong boarding passes. Further the flight was delayed by 45 minutes and it ended with discovering that on arrival their baggage was missing. And above that the company’s staff at the Kolkata airport misbehaved with the complainant and treated them rudely.

The complainant was reportedly given International boarding passes by the ground staff and they took almost 45 minutes to resolve this hassle and issue them a fresh one. Later when they reached the boarding gates they realized that the flight was delayed by 45 minutes.
But the more shocking situation was when at the arrival they found their baggage missing with expensive clothes and valuables. According to the complainant the ground staff at the Kolkata airport was no help and they misbehaved with him and his family.

The complainant further told the forum that the AIr India in return blamed him for carrying expensive valuables in his baggage in reply to the legal notice issued to them.

The forum announced compensation of Rs. 1 Lakh in favor of the complainant for the hassles he has gone through while dealing with Air India. The dispute was on the “claim and quantum of compensation for imperfect services.”

See more articles on Airline sector here.

See more company pages:

Go Air Complaint

Spice Jet Complaint

Air India Express Complaint

Kingfisher complaint

File your consumer complaints here.

Picture from here.

Air India Penalised For Callous Service and Discomfort To Passenger

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Runjhun

In a widely welcomed development, the national carrier Air India was made to compensate a flier by Rs. 1 lakh for the harrowing treatment meted out to him and his wife at the hands of the insensitive and rude staff of the airlines.

Air India Was Ordered To Pay Rs. 94, 776

Background
P K Agarwal, a retired IAS officer of the rank of Additional Chief Secretary in the West Bengal government, with his wife were travelling to Kolkata from Delhi on March 11 last year on an Air India flight. His woes started when he encountered a delay of 40 minutes in getting his boarding pass due to the inexperienced desk staff . In addition, the pass was incorrectly stamped due to which they were not allowed to board the flight. But their problems didn’t end here. Due to some technical problems, the plane was delayed for another 45 minutes. Further, when they reached Kolkata, their luggage went missing and there was no airline staff at the helpdesk to assist them for the same.

Verdict
The New Delhi Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum’s bench consisting of C K Chaturvedi, S R Chaudhary and Asha Kumar directed Air India to pay 94,776 to Mr. Agarwal within a month and another Rs. 10,000 to be paid within 60 days. The same was to be cut from the salaries of the concerned staff and and their supervising officers. Of the total compensation, a sum of Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 10,000 were imposed as punitive damages on the airline staff posted at Delhi and Kolkata airport respectively. This was attributed to the fact that the loss of luggage was due to the sheer negligence on the part of the Air India ground staff at the Delhi airport and the Kolkata crew were penalised for their sheer callousness and unhelpful nature.

See more articles on Airline sector here.

See more company pages:

Air Arabia Complaint

Go Air Complaint

Indigo Airlines Complaint

Jet Airways complaint

File your complaint here.

Image source- http://airnews.pl/photo/2009/04/23/IMG_0065.jpg

AI To Shell Out Rs. 2 Lakh To NRI Couple

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Runjhun

The Bangalore Urban District Consumer Forum has directed Air India to compensate a NRI couple to the tune of Rs. 2 Lakhs as the couple and their infant child missed their flight to Los Angeles due to ‘Misconnect of flight’ on part of Air India.

Mahesh Angadi, a native of Bangalore, was in the city for the naming ceremony of his son and had booked three tickets with Air India to travel back to LA via New Delhi, by another private airline. They however had to spend their New Year in Lucknow though they were to catch a connecting flight to Los Angeles from New Delhi airport, on December 31, 2006.

Five years later, on December 31, 2011, the Consumer Forum directed Air India to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation, including Rs 50,000 towards mental agony and hardships faced by the trio, while catching a flight to LA.

The Verdict

The court said that this was a clear case of deficiency in service in not making alternative arrangements for Angadi and his family to board the immediate flight available to LA, after they missed the scheduled flight due to fog. “The complainant, with a small kid of four months (then) was forced to stay back in New Delhi for two nights,” remarked the court.

But at the same time the court ruled out the Rs 10 lakh compensation claimed by Angadi saying the figure as exaggerated. The Rs. 2 Lakh includes Rs 1.27 lakh they spent to buy Air France tickets to travel back home and Rs 22,500 spent in Delhi for two extra nights.

The Ordeal

Mahesh, Bharathi and Aaryan who were scheduled to return to LA on December 31, 2006, by Air India boarded another private airline to connect them to the AI flight at New Delhi International Airport. Instead of reaching New Delhi, the flight was diverted to Lucknow due to bad weather in the capital. AI had assured Angadi that they would be put on the LA flight in time the next day.

They reached Lucknow around midnight and boarded a flight to Delhi at 8am the next day, but the flight to LA had already taken off by then. Angadi, in his complaint, alleged that AI staff did not cooperate with them in a professional manner and he had to purchase fresh tickets on Air France to travel back home after spending two extra days. He also alleged that the entire family fell sick after this incident and sought compensation of Rs 10 lakh.

Defense Argument

Air India argued that the private airline flight was diverted to Lucknow due to bad weather conditions at Delhi airport. AI also stated: “Since the complainants did not choose to travel by the next available Air India flight on which space was available, they became disentitled to avail of facilities, including hotel accommodation and subsequent travel at AI’s cost.”

The court agreed that AI could not be blamed for diversion of flight due to bad weather conditions, but ruled that the airline was at fault by making the complainants suffer mentally and physically due to misconnect of the flights.

See more articles on Airline sector here.

See more company pages:

Air Arabia Complaint

Air India Complaint

Indigo Airlines Complaint

Jet Airways complaint

File your complaint here

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11811587@N04/1491807758/sizes/m/in/photostream/

4 FAQs When You Face Trouble With Foreign Airlines

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Runjhun

What happens to your state of mind if an urgent business consignment you had sent somewhere using a foreign carrier gets misplaced? Leave that, what happens if you are traveling and your baggage gets misplaced at the airport? Nightmarish isn’t it? But the bigger questions would come up once you are in such a soup. What would you do? Where do you go? Whose help do you seek? Where do you file a complaint? And many more such questions.

It’s not a good situation to be in but for all those who have already started to shiver, please relax. The Supreme Court of India recently gave a judgment that could surely cheer you up. The apex court held that Consumer Forum and Commissions have the authority and jurisdiction to decide cases and to award compensation pertaining to foreign airlines.

We are sure even after the judgement you still have a few questions up your sleeve. This is an effort towards answering those.

1. Does Consumer Forum have jurisdiction in this case? Can one file a complaint in India?

Ans: An aggrieved person can file a case in India. The reason being as simple as the fact that since the sender of the goods has sent the goods from India, the cause of action arose here. Also since the carrier also operates (flies) from India, it can be sued in India.

A reference case is Trans Mediterranean Airways vs M/S. Universal Exports & Anr. Where the consignor (M/S. universal Exports) was shipping garments to the consignee (Barclays Bank) in Spain through an agent in India who availed the services of the carrier (Trans Mediterranean Airways). However, the carrier delivered the consignment wrongly to M/S Liwe Espanola.

When the consignor filed the case in front of the National Commission, it directed the carrier to

a) Pay a sum equivalent to US $71,615.75 with 5% interest from the date of the complaint, till its realization, and

b) Imposed fine of 1 lakh for deficiency in service.

Hearing the order, the carrier appealed to the Supreme Court, questioning the jurisdiction of the National Commission but the apex court upheld the decision of the commission.

2. Which consumer forum should one approach?

Ans: The answer to this is pretty simple and has been answered by us on numerous occasions. Your approach will depend on the cost of consignment and compensation claimed. So, if the cost of goods or services and compensation claimed is:

Up to Rs.20 lakh, the complaint should be filed with the concerned District Forum.
Above Rs. 20 lakh but less than one crore, the complaint should be filed with the State Commission.
Above Rs. one crore, the complaint should be filed with the National Commission (NCDRC).

Our reference article in which court should I file a complaint will surely help.

3. Whether there is deficiency of service?

Ans: This one is for the courts to decide. In the case above the national commission held the carrier liable as the sender had provided all documents needed for dispatching the goods. Also the carrier’s excuse that the address was tough to find does not stand on strong grounds as there was only one branch of Barclays Bank in Madrid. Having said that as earlier mentioned deficiency of service is something in which the line definitely belongs to the judges.

4. Whether the foreign carrier can claim immunity from being sued in consumer forums?

Ans: No, a foreign carrier cannot claim immunity from being sued in consumer forums. The explanation is clear in the following case Ethiopian Airlines Vs. Ganesh Narain Saboo. In this case the Supreme Court held that proceedings before a consumer forum have the same meaning as a ‘suit’ under the Civil Procedure Code.

Based on the Supreme Court’s decision in the Ethiopian Airlines case, the carrier cannot claim immunity from being sued in consumer forums.

Conclusion

So basically an apex court judgment has made clear that any one aggrieved by the foreign airlines can approach an appropriate consumer forum with a complaint. However the onus of establishing that there is deficiency in service rests upon the complainant’s case and judge’s point of view.

See more articles on Airline sector here.

See more company pages:

Singapore Airlines Complaint

Qatar Airways Complaint

Kingfisher Airlines Complaint

Spice jet airlines complaint

File your complaint here

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thundershead/442700299/sizes/m/in/photostream/