In response to the allegations made by Madhu Bagri, India’s first-ever woman participant in a wheelchair tennis tournament, about being forced to pay extra for her sports wheelchair and poor service by the IndiGo airline staff, the company has stated that it regretted that she was misinformed by its staff. Ms. Bagri was on her way to Bangkok.
“We understand and regret that the check-in agent, who initially dealt with Ms. Bagri, misinformed her on the charges of the second wheelchair. However, the shift in-charge immediately apologised to Ms. Bagri, clarified the excess baggage and assisted her beyond the policies, in waiving off the handling fees of sports equipment,” it said in a statement.
The airline added, “Passenger Ms. Madhu Bagri, arrived in her own wheelchair at the check-in counter. Ms. Bagri was carrying 48 kg of baggage, which included one wheel chair and her sports kit. Keeping in mind the sensitivity involved, 20 kg was immediately waived off (which includes wheelchair and hand baggage allowance) and charged for only 8 kg. Additionally, we waived off the handling fees of sports equipment. This was done on the spot, even though the free baggage entitlement was for 20 kg, thus, making it 28 kg of excess baggage.”
As for her allegations about being made to wait and the staff offering to “lift her” instead of providing her a wheelchair at Bangkok airport, the airline said: “Ms. Bagri’s personal wheelchair was provided, however, that did not fit in the aisle. Therefore, an alternate wheelchair was arranged. During this time other passengers started to disembark and, hence, she had to wait for 20 minutes primarily because of disembarkation of other co-passengers.’’
