The Hindu : New Delhi News : Airline asked to pay for seat denial

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Airline asked to pay for seat denial

By Mandira Nayar

NEW DELHI, OCT. 19. It was an unforgettable `flight' that D.G. Sanghal never really took. On his way back home from Nigeria on Indian Airlines, he never thought that he would be denied a seat on the flight after he was issued a boarding pass. While he tried to explain to the authorities that his ticket would expire if he did not board the airplane and would have to buy a fresh ticket, he was not accommodated on the flight. Determined to get justice, he knocked on the doors of the consumer redressal forum.

After a year long legal battle, a consumer disputes redressal forum held Indian Airlines guilty of deficiency of service and directed the airlines to pay the equivalent of 710 dollars in Indian rupees. The airline was asked to pay an additional Rs. 5,000 as costs.

For their part, Indian Airlines claimed that Mr. Sanghal had reported late for check-in by which time the boarding passes had already been exhausted on "first-come-first serve'' basis to the other passengers holding confirmed tickets. The airlines further submitted that he could not be accommodated on another flight because of his inability to board it, therefore, the airline was not guilty of negligence.

Mr. Sanghal in turn claimed that he had booked the flight more than a month in advance and he had also reconfirmed it five days before he was to fly to ensure that he would get on to the flight. He also stated that he had stood in the queue for two hours before the scheduled departure and got his boarding pass. He had also cleared immigration formalities. He further submitted that he was a senior citizen and had never been offloaded in 40 years of air travel.

After going through all the evidence, a consumer disputes redressal forum stated that the submission of Indian Airlines that Mr. Sanghal had reported late for the flight was not tenable as his boarding pass shows the time it was issued and it was not possible that the airlines gave him a boarding pass immediately as he arrived.

The airline had admitted that every effort had been made to accommodate Mr. Sanghal on the airplane, so it was not possible that the boarding passes were issued on a first come and first serve basis especially as Mr. Sanghal had cleared immigration formalities, the bench observed. Since Mr. Sanghal had confirmed and then reconfirmed, the airline was not entitled to deny him a boarding pass, the bench stated. Therefore, it held the airline guilty of deficiency and directed it to compensate 710 dollars in rupees.

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