Air India asked to refund fare

Prakash Singh had booked two tickets for him and his wife with Air India for a Delhi-USA-Singapore-Delhi trip. Singh had a confirmed return ticket from Singapore to Delhi on June 3. However, he decided to reschedule his flight to June 2, and got it confirmed by Air India.
On reaching Singapore on May 27, Singh repeatedly made calls to reconfirm his tickets, but he could not get through as the phone lines were busy.
On May 1 when he got through Air India, he was told that as per the terms and conditions of the ticket, if the passenger does not reconfirm the ticket three days prior to the flight, the bookings are automatically deleted. Singh was also told that his earlier booking of June 3 could also not be reverted, as they were cancelled. Singh then chose to upgrade his ticket on payment of Singapore $234.
On reaching India, Singh filed a complaint of deficiency of service with the District Forum at Delhi. The forum asked Air India to refund Singh Singapore $234 with 9% interest.
Air India took the matter to the National Commission, which noted that Air India did not deny that they had received an e-mail from Singh that he wanted to travel on June 2. It also noted that the airline did not contest the fact his call was not attended. The Commission observed that even if there was a condition that the ticket had to be re-confirmed, the telephone systems should be functional to respond to the passenger’s request. Without this, cancellation of the booking would be unfair. The Commission held that Air India was deficient in its services and confirmed the order of the District Forum.
07/07/08 MS Kamath/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India - International Jul 2008, NACIL Jul 2008