Losing Baggages Is Lucrative-For The Passengers! Consumer Forum Orders Jazeera Airways To Pay 50K For Losing Luggage

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Runjhun

Jazeera Airways To Pay 50K For Losing Luggage

Another complaint against airline. Another baggage lost, compensation gained. I, really, sometimes feel that I should lose a baggage at some airport. Harassment aside, the sum offered by consumer courts in lieu of all the trouble, sometimes make that prospect really tempting.

Till the time I lose baggage, here is the latest one. A consumer forum in New Delhi has ordered Kuwait based Jazeera airways to pay Rs. 50,000 as compensation to a passenger whose baggage had been lost in transit from Dubai to Delhi.

The forum rejected the airlines offer of about Rs. 19000, which did not include the mental harassment and trauma. The forum held airline guilty of deficiency in services and ordered into pay Rs. 40,000 as compensation and Rs. 10,000 as litigation cost.As some relief to the airline, the forum refused to hold it liable for the valuables lost that were kept in the airline, holding the consumer equally responsible for the loss as she kept the valuables in the luggage.

Jazeera Airways To Pay 50K For Losing A Passenger’s Luggage (Business Standard)

Newly-wed Miss Flight, Consumer Court Fines Meru Cab

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Runjhun

A Consumer Forum in Mumbai has ordered a cab service provider, Meru Cab, to pay over Rs 22,000 as compensation to a couple who missed their honeymoon flight as their luggage could not be taken out from the car’s locked boot in time.

The order was passed by bench of M G Rahatgaonkar and Jyoti Iyer on a complaint filed by Amit Vartak, a Thane resident.

Background

On October 28, 2009, Amit Vartak and his wife had hired a Meru cab for taking them to Mumbai Airport from where were headed to Kochi. The cab reached the airport in time, but the driver could not open the boot in which luggage was kept, as the lock had jammed.

Deficiency In Service

According to Vartaks, the maintenance department of the cab company did not respond to calls. When eventually a company mechanic succeeded in opening the boot, the flight had left and they had to re-book on another Kerala-bound flight, coughing up around Rs 11,000.

When they returned, Vartaks sent a notice to Meru seeking compensation. The company did not respond and then the complainants moved the Maharashtra Consumer Forum seeking to recover cost of the airfare plus Rs 50,000 for the stress and mental agony.

Verdict

The Forum observed that this was a clear case of deficieny in service as there was no tool kit in the cab (which is mandatory for every vehicle on the road) and also calls to Meru’s maintenance department went unanswered.

“In view of the above facts we are of the view that complainant and his wife must have gone through immense mental agony and torture,” the Consumer Forum said.

“The opponent company should bear in mind that being in service industry, that too in the 21st century, they cannot exercise such kind of deficiencies,” it said and ordered Meru to pay Vartaks Rs 22,088 in compensation.

File your consumer complaint here.

Jet Airways To Pay 1 Lakh For Cancelling Flight

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Runjhun

Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered Jet Airways (India) Ltd. to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to Himanshu Mehta, a businessmen, for cancelling a Srinagar-Delhi flight in 2006.

The forum observed that Mr. Mehta had suffered severe mental and physical hardship because of the cancellation and thus held the airline guilty of deficiency of service. It said that by not informing the passengers about the cancellation in advance, the airline showed negligence and apathy towards passengers.

Background

The complainant had booked a seat on a Jet Airways flight from Srinagar to New Delhi, scheduled to depart on April 3, 2006 at 8.20am, through a travel agent. In his complaint dated May 19, 2007, he stated that he also booked a flight from New Delhi to Mumbai for the same evening because of a scheduled meeting with his clients for the intervening afternoon.

But when he arrived at the Srinagar airport at 6.40am on April 3, he and other co-passengers were shocked to find that the airport doors were closed and they had to brave the cold out in the passage. At 10.15am, airline representatives arrived and the passengers were given a place to sit inside the airport.

They were then told that the flight had been cancelled and the passengers would now be accommodated on a flight scheduled to depart at 1.15pm.

Mehta finally arrived in Delhi only at 4.15pm and had to cancel his meeting.

Mehta alleged that the flight that he had originally booked was actually non-existent and yet the airline issued tickets for it.

Jet Airways Defence

The airline though said that the flight service was launched and was to fly from April to June 2006 but because it had not got the necessary permissions from the government the service could not be launched. The airline went on to add that it had informed the travel agents of the same thereby the fault lies with the agents as they failed to inform the passengers. The travel agency though denied of any such information.

Verdict

On the basis of the evidence on record the forum concluded that the airline had made no attempt to inform the passengers in advance about the cancellation. Further, it held the airline accountable for allowing bookings and taking money for a non-existent flight or for one that hadn’t got the requisite permissions from the air traffic department.

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/nadircruise/2558175497/sizes/z/in/photostream/