Qatar Airways asked to compensate couple

Hyderabad: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-I directed Qatar Airways to refund flight fare of Rs 9,300, and pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 besides Rs 5,000 towards legal expenses for the inconvenience and mental agony suffered by a passenger and her husband bound for USA, who were not provided the reserved seats they had sought.  

Prof. Salapakam Renuka and her husband Dokku Ramakrishna Rao, a retired chief engineer, from Kondapur filed a petition before the commission alleging that they had approached the Qatar Airways office in Banjara Hills to travel to the USA via Doha.

On the advice of their doctor, Prof. Renuka, who underwent a knee surgery, and her husband, a heart patient, sought bulkhead seats, which were assured by the ticketing agent, Bhanu Priya Boorada.

The airways office directed the complainants to produce a medical certificate and informed them that the preferred seats would be confirmed only after they book the flight tickets. Accordingly, they booked their tickets on April 1, 2017 for their May 6, 2017 travel and also submitted medical and fitness certificates on May 1.

On May 4, they received a call from the airways confirming the allotment of bulkhead seats.

However, to their shock and dismay, when they boarded the flight to Doha on May 6, they noticed that they were allotted one middle seat and one aisle seat instead of bulkhead seats. This caused abnormal pain, suffering and discomfort to the couple, all through the journey.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways denied the allegations, averments, submissions and claims of the complainants. They said that tickets were issued to the complainants at a discounted rate under the senior citizen scheme and after getting a telephonic confirmation for bulk seats.

After hearing the arguments, the commission directed Qatar Airways management to refund the ticket fare and pay compensation to the two.