Denied seat by airline, IIT prof seeks penalty

Kolkata: For Dr Subiman Kundu, it has been a long battle for justice. A mathematics professor at the IIT-Delhi, Kundu moved the consumer forum in March, demanding a compensation of Rs 5 lakh from IndiGo Airlines for allegedly preventing him from boarding a flight despite holding a valid ticket.
On October 12 last year, Kundu arrived at the Kolkata airport to board flight 6E 274 to Delhi. The flight was originally scheduled to depart at 7.45 pm. However, the airlines had intimated passengers through an email that the flight had been rescheduled to 7.05 pm. Accordingly, Kundu reached the airport an hour earlier. At the check-in counter, however, Kundu was told that the airlines had tried to get in touch with him at the cellphone number he had provided during booking but it went unanswered. He was also told that he did not respond to the email regarding rescheduling of the flight.
Since the airline could not get any confirmation from him, he was told, it had “transferred” his ticket to the next available Indigo flight, on next morning. When the IndiGo executive at the counter refused to issue him a boarding pass, Kundu approached an official of the airline for assistance but of no avail. “The people at the counter misbehaved with me. Nowhere in the email was it mentioned that I need to respond and confirm my availability for the rescheduled timings. Many others also faced the same problem,” Kundu told The Indian Express. He alleged that he was “abused and threatened” by the IndiGo staff when he demanded that he be put on another flight.
Kundu finally returned to Delhi the next day by a Jet Airways flight. Subsequently, he wrote an email to IndiGo, demanding Rs 5 lakh for breach of contract and harassment. “An official of the airline called me on January 5 and apologised for the situation. They sent a letter on January 6 and offered me two complimentary tickets. But I do not want the tickets. They should admit their mistake,” said Kundu.
30/05/09 ExpressIndia

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Categories: Indigo Airlines May 2009