Refusal to accept baggage may cost airlines dear

New Delhi: Refusal of airlines to accept oversized baggage and belongings of passengers could be treated as deficiency in service for which compensation could be claimed. It is not necessary to show bodily injury to claim for mental agony and harassment in such cases, the Supreme Court indicated on Friday while dismissing an appeal filed by Air France.
The airline had challenged an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission which had held that refusal to accept an oversized baggage from a passenger amounts to deficiency in service.
A bench comprising justices BN Agrawal and GS Singhvi refused to entertain the plea of Air France that there is no provision for compensation for mental agony, harassment, inconvenience, etc, in the absence of physical injury under the Carriage by Air Act of 1972.
Non-bodily injuries are excluded by the Warsaw and Hague Conventions that have the force of law in India under the Carriage by Air Act. The complainant was, therefore, not entitled to any amount of compensation for mental agony, harassment and inconvenience, said Air France.
Complainant Sonali Arora — along with her two minor daughters — had travelled on Air France flight from London to Paris on July 4, 1998, and from there to Delhi. It was alleged that the staff of the airline did not allow her to carry one of her handbags on board on the ground that it was oversized. She was compelled to abandon the handbag at the Heathrow Airport in London. According to her, the bag in question contained various valuables, including a camera, two Rado wrist watches, six crystal decoration pieces and souvenirs.
25/02/08 Sanjay K Singh/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Foreign Feb 2008, ndian Aviation- In General Feb 2008