Sunday, June 30, 2019

Airlines pay peanuts after mishandling flyers’ baggage

New Delhi: A feud between India's budget carrier IndiGo and a Supreme Court lawyer has highlighted how various airlines in India pay peanuts after mishandling /damaging flyers' baggage.
Advocate Kushal Sharma was travelling from Singapore to Delhi via Chennai. He purchased imported duty-free liquor bottles from Chennai airport on June 29 with a complimentary handbag worth Rs. 20000. He wanted to carry the liquor as hand baggage but as per the policy the IndiGo staff didn't allow and asked Sharma to checkin liquor bag.
"I told airline staff repeatedly that it's liquor and it will be broken. However, they said we will mark it as fragile and nothing will happen as we do it regularly. Having no option i checked in the bag. I arrived in Delhi domestic airport and collected the bag from counter 01, I found bottles were totally crushed and broken," says Sharma.
"I told airline staff repeatedly that it's liquor and it will be broken. However, they said we will mark it as fragile and nothing will happen as we do it regularly. Having no option i checked in the bag. I arrived in Delhi domestic airport and collected the bag from counter 01, I found bottles were totally crushed and broken," says Sharma.
"I immediately went to IndiGo counter where they took photographs of broken liquor bottles and said that 'nothing can be done now. We have noted it but as per policy, the responsibility is not ours. I was so upset and it was so painful. When I called their customer care, the baggage care representative told me that 'it's not our responsibility. We had marked it fragile, and if it's damaged then now it's customer's responsibility'," informed the advocate.
The IndiGo's baggage policy says that "IndiGo assumes no liability for fragile or perishable articles. IndiGo shall have no liability whatsoever for damage to articles not permitted to be contained in Checked Baggage as per the provisions of the Conditions of Carriage (including, without limitation, fragile or perishable items, items having a special value, such as money, jewellery, precious metals, computers, personal electronic devices, negotiable papers, camera, TV, securities, or other valuables, business documents, passports and other identification documents)".
However, the airlines further, says that "(Liability) limited to a maximum of INR 20,000/- only. Other conditions as per the Act apply."
Again it has not been clearly mentioned how the airlines will pay the liability of Rs. 20000.

For example, when the airlines came to know that the aggrieved customer is a lawyer then after initial dillydallying it offered to give him gift vouchers worth Rs 20000 as compensation.

The Advocate says, "IndiGo is offering me voucher worth Rs 2000 for this huge monetarily loss and mental agony. It's such a shameful act. They don't care for what suffering the passenger has gone through."
30/06/19 Hardeep Singh Bedi/One India
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