Passengers take airlines to court

New Delhi: Today Bhandoola is a content man. Just last month, a consumer court in Delhi ordered low-cost carrier Air Deccan to pay him a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for mental agony and harassment.
Last January, Bhandoola and his family were booked on an Air Deccan flight from Pune to Delhi. But just minutes before the scheduled take off they were informed that the flight had been cancelled due to fog. The airline refused to put the Bhandoolas on another flight.
The family had to drive to Mumbai spending two nights in a hotel and fly back to Delhi with a full fare airline.
"I had decided then that I will not let them get away. You pay them and they don't speak to you. People in India are not aware about their rights," said Anil Bhandoola, petitioner.
G S Chaturvedi is a senior adjudicator at a Delhi consumer court. In the last 4 years he has ruled in favour of many Delhi residents unhappy with airlines.
"People can simply file a complaint on a plain sheet of paper.They have to pay a court fee of Rs 100. They don't need to engage a lawyer. They should enclose the relevant documents like air tickets etc. Normally, we award compensation for deficiency in service and adoption of unfair trade practices. It depends on the extent of mental agony and harassment. And there are SC guidelines," said G S Chaturvedi, member, consumer forum, south-west district.
This winter it's the same story as always of fog and flight disruptions. Airlines don't send sms-es in advance warning passengers of rescheduled timings. And Delhi is saying enough is enough.
24/12/08 Neha Khanna/NDTV.com

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Dec 2008