The Mumbai district administration has filed an FIR against Cambata Aviation and Bird Worldwide Flight Service, which has taken Cambata’s equipment on lease, for allegedly refusing to cooperate with government officials when they attempted to seize the equipment as per court directions.
Following the delay in response from Cambata Aviation in paying off pending dues to its employees, Labour Minister Sambhaji Nilangekar-Patil had earlier initiated legal action following which the equipment owned by the company was seized. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had also directed the company to pay off the employees or face dire consequences.
The action was taken after the company ceased operations in Mumbai early last year, leaving over 1,000 employees in the lurch. According to the FIR, Cambata Aviation was sent a notice on October 26, 2016 by the district administration to deposit an amount of ₹4,45,14,633 within a period of 30 days. When they failed to do so, further notices were sent to them. On December 22, 2016, another notice was sent informing them about the seizure, but the company failed to cooperate following which the FIR was filed.
In August, the company had written to its employees to not report to work after it lost its ground-handling contract to its competitors Celebi and Bird Worldwide Flight Service (BWFS). Of around 2,100 employees, about 722 were absorbed by rival companies, while the rest are still waiting for their salaries and Provident Fund.
Mr. Nilangekar-Patil said, “This is the first FIR in the matter and we have decided to take stringent action if the company refuses to cooperate. The equipment owned by Cambata Aviation is now being used by Bird Worldwide Flight Service by changing the stickers on the equipment, and BWFS has now refused to let officials identify the equipment. They are going against the law.”
The company’s beleagured employees had met Mr. Nilangekar-Patil seeking help, following which he held meetings to resolve the issue. Mr. Fadnavis had also intervened in the matter to speed up the process, and appropriate action was taken as per the labour laws.
However, the company failed to act on the notices and requested for more time to look for investors to pay employees. They had also mentioned selling their equipment to settle the dues. As nothing has been done till date, the government had initiated the action of seizing the equipment.
Social activist Anjali Damania, too, had held a meeting with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray after it became clear that the Sena-affiliated labour union was the only authorised union which had failed to cater to the interests of workers. The Hindu had reported how Mr. Thackeray was forced to call its leaders to question them.
Started by Kershi Cambata in 1967, the company used to provide ground support services to British Overseas Airways Corporation and Swissair.
In the past few years, the company made losses after losing clients to rivals. Since it has the license to operate in Mumbai and Delhi airports for four years, the company is trying to regain its lost glory by inviting investors.
