Protest against AI's method of compensation

Mangalore: The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) will lead a rally to Air India's office here on Wednesday, protesting against insurers paying a meagre settlement to the families of the victims of Air India Express crash of May 22.
According to T V Rajesh, vice-president, DYFI Central Executive Committee, said the recent activities of AI management and the insurance consortium was disappointing, `alleging' that the insurers with knowledge and connivance of the AI Management have approached the families of the victims and are negotiating a meagre settlement.
He claimed that they are persuading the victims to accept a settlement which is based on the income of the deceased, which means the insurance companies have to pay only a little amount as compensation as most of the families are from a low income group.
Rajesh claimed that the Article 21 of Montreal Convention eliminates all arbitrary limits on air carrier liability with respect to accident victims. The carrier may avoid liability for the full amount of damages only if it proves that it was not negligent or that a third party was solely responsible for the damages.
As a further benefit for accident victims, Article 21 holds carriers strictly liable for the first 100,000 SDR (approximately Rs 70 lakh) of proven damages for each passenger, i.e., the carrier may not avoid liability for this amount, even if the accident was caused without any fault or negligence of the carrier.
He said the issue of classifying passengers according to the position and income for assessing the compensation cannot be applied in an international flight because an international flight will have passengers of different nationalities, working in different countries.
The DYFI has demanded for the intervention of Union civil aviation ministry in this issue to restrain AI management and the insurance representatives in unduly influencing the innocent victims who are already in a state of mental depression for the loss of their beloved ones.
06/09/10 Times of India

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Categories: Air India Budget Sep 2010, airports Sep 2010, NACIL Sep 2010, Safety Sep 2010