A consumer forum directed IndiGo airlines to pay ₹20,000 as compensation to a passenger, noting ‘callous attitude’ in returning the baggage which went missing.
The forum was dealing with a complaint filed by Aanya Shah, a minor, who was represented by her mother, Rachana Popli Shah.
The complainant stated that she went to Srinagar from Hyderabad on vacation. She took IndiGo flight 6E-305 to return to the city. But, upon her return, her baggage was delivered. She then registered a complaint with the airline, both in person and by e-mail.
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On December 5, 2015, Ms. Shah said, the airline responded and offered ₹8,400 for the missing baggage and another ₹3,000 as compensation. She did not accept the offer as she thought it was arbitrary.
On December 12, 2015, she sent the airline a legal notice which met with no response.
The complainant said she received a call from the airline after five weeks and was told to collect her baggage from a hotel in Gachibowli. She insisted that the airline have it delivered to her home. The request was not obliged.
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On its part, the airline stated that there has been deficiency in service and that the complaint was diligently acted upon. It maintained that liability for damage to baggage ‘will be reduced by any negligence on part of the customers, which causes or contributes to the damage in accordance with applicable law’. Apart from presenting other points, the airline said customers are solely responsible for personal belongings and that it is not liable for any loss or damage.
The forum, however, noted that it is the airline’s duty to hand over misplaced baggage to the complainant. It also noted that the hotel is a third party and the complainant cannot ‘legally demand’ the luggage from it.
‘Lackadaisal attitude’
“Thus, she was humiliated due to the lackadaisical attitude and deficiency of service of the opposite parties for which all the opposite parties are jointly and severally liable for their deficient acts,” the forum noted.