Private airline told to compensate Rs 21,000

Chennai: Holding Indigo Airlines re­sponsible for neglige­nce and deficiency in se­r­v­ice and unfair trade pr­a­ctice, the district consu­m­er disputes redressal for­um, Chennai (north), dir­e­cted the private airline to refund Rs 21,000 to a pas­s­e­nger. Due to its neglig­e­n­ce, a woman and her da­u­ghters were stranded in New Delhi for three days.

The petitioner, Ravi Ragav of Nolambur, sub­m­­­itted that he had booked th­­ree air tickets for his wi­­fe, Dr Pankaja Ragav, and two children, for Rs 30,371. He booked the tickets with the help of ya­tra.com from New Del­hi to Ch­ennai on May 30, 2010.

Counsel for the petitioner, P. Vin­od­kumar, co­n­t­ended that Ra­vi Ra­g­av had attempted to rev­ise the travel plan and pl­a­­nn­ed to book tickets for May 26 instead of May 30 and the process was not com­pl­e­ted due to a non-fun­ct­io­ning debit card.

Counsel for Indigo Air­li­nes, Mothilal Goda, sub­mitted that the forum had no jurisdiction to ent­er­tain the complaint. The pe­titioner was required to pay Rs 9,447 for re-sche­d­u­­ling, but due to an error in fund transfer, tickets for May 26 were not is­s­u­ed. The amount was fo­rfe­i­te­d.

Counsel for yatra.com, Prashant Rajagopal, rep­lied that the petitioner had directly contacted the airlines for cancellation. Alternative tickets were not issued due to non-fu­n­ctioning of the debit card.

The bench, comprising president R. Mohandoss and member T. Kalai­ya­rasi, said the cancellation was accepted as the trio had not travelled on the ba­­sis of re-scheduling. The bench directed the ai­r­line to deduct Rs 9,447 tow­ards cancellation charges and refund Rs 20,924 to the petitioner. The bench also directed the private airline to pay him a cost of Rs 2,000 in six weeks.