DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM-II
Udyog Sadan, C-22 & 23, Qutub Institutional Area
(Behind Qutub Hotel), New Delhi- 110016
Case No.240/20
Saurabh Agarwal
S/o Sudhir Agarwal
Nidhi Jain
W/o Saurabh Agarwal
Both Residents of
D-1 136,137 1st Floor
Rohini Sector-16
Delhi-110089. .…Complainants
VERSUS
AIR INDIA LTD.
113, Airlines House
Gurudwara Rakabganj Road
New Delhi-110001.
ALSO AT:
Air India Ltd.
Cumstomer Service
Air India Ltd.
Safdarjung Airport
New Delhi-110003. ….Opposite Party
Coram:
Ms. Monika A Srivastava, President
Ms. Kiran Kaushal, Member
Sh. U.K. Tyagi, Member
ORDER
Date of Institution:02.02.2021
Date of Order :14.12.2023
President: Ms. Monika A Srivastava
Complainant has filed the present complaint seeking a compensation of Rs.1,00,000/- being the loss caused to the complainants by wrong cancellation of the flight of the complainant and prolong travel. Complaint also seeks litigation cost of Rs.50,000/-.
- It is the case of the complainant that they booked 2 tickets for two adults and three months old child for travel from New Delhi to Changi Airport, Singapore for 11.03.2019. Copy of the air tickets is attached as Annexure C1.
- It is further stated that on the day of the departure, the said flight was cancelled without any prior notice to the complainants and as per the available flight data and weather data, there were no extraordinary circumstances for which the OP could have cancelled the flight.
- It is the case of the complainant that when they reached Delhi airport after travelling for a considerable distance, they were told that the said flight stands cancelled without any prior notice. It is further stated that when they approached the officials of the OP they were told to leave for home and come back the next day for the next flight.
- It is further stated that after running from pillar to post, the complainants got to speak with the OPs senior officer eventually arranged an alternate flight but the same was at the cost and discomfort of the complainants. The complainants were made to board a flight for Bangkok and from there they took another flight to Singapore which caused lot of difficulty and discomfort to the complainants as well as to their three month’s old child. It is the case of the complainant that on account of OPs negligent attitude and deficiency in services, the complainants not only suffered mental agony, physical distress as well.
- It is the case of the complainant that under the passenger charter issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, complainants are entitled to compensation and the complainant made a claim for compensation vide email dated 04.11.2019.
- It is the case of the complainant that on account of the act of the OP, complainants not only suffered mental agony but also failed to reach their final destination in time and suffered immense mental and physical suffering and therefore the OP is liable to compensate the complainants for their losses.
- In their reply, OP has stated that the present complaint is an abuse of the process of the law as it fails to disclose any deficiency or any negligence on the part of the OP. It is stated that in the month of February 2019, the flight was cancelled due to closure of Pakistan airspace by the government of Pakistan which is totally beyond the control of the OP. It is stated that the flight was cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances which will be completely beyond the control of the OP.
- It is stated that despite closure of airspace by the government of Pakistan, every possible effort was made to provide the complainants with alternative flight so that they can have comfortable journey to their desired destination without being charged any extra money. It is further stated that the present complaint is made after one and a half years from the date of the incident which only goes to show that it has been filed with the intention to malign the image and reputation of OP.
- It is further stated that complainants were provided with alternate air tickets free of cost on the same day totally at the expense of OP and therefore, the question of deficiency of services as alleged by the complainants does not arise.
- It is also stated that the complaint is bad for non-joinder of necessary and proper parties as the complainants had booked their tickets through online portal namely Air India web booking and they ought to have been impleaded as a party to the complaint.
- It is further stated that as per clause 1.4 of DGCA CAR ‘M’ dated 06.08.2010 it has been stated that the operating airline would not have the obligation to pay compensation in cases where the cancellation and delays have been caused by movements of force measure. It is also stated that as per the general terms and conditions of the OP “ the company reserves to itself the right without assigning any reason to cancel or delay the commencement or continuance of the flight or to alter the shopping place or to deviate from the root of the journey or to change the type of aircraft in use without thereby incurring any liability in damages or otherwise to the guests or any other person on any ground whatsoever”.
- In their rejoinder, the complainants have denied the allegations made in the reply by the OP. It is stated that the closure of airspace was in the knowledge of the OP as the Indian Pakistan war like situation was going on pursuant to Pulwama attacks on 14.02.2019 and the airspace was closed on 27.02.2019 by the Government of Pakistan and the flights were rerouted from that day onwards.
- It is stated that therefore the OP had sufficient time to reroute the said flight via an alternate route with timely and proper information to the complainants.
- It is stated that the complainants reached Singapore on 12.03.2019 at odd hours after considerable delay in this schedule timings. It is stated that despite the flight status being shown as confirmed, the flight was cancelled without any prior intimation to the complainants which caused them a lot of inconvenience during the entire journey.
- This Commission has gone through the entire material on record. There is no denial that the complainants had booked tickets through OP, that the same stood cancelled. It is also not denied that the complainants were provided with alternate flight, however, the same was re-routed from Bangkok to Singapore. OP has relied on DGCA Guidelines wherein the airlines reserve the right to cancel or delay the flight without assigning any reason there is no liability of the airline. OP has also relied on Clause 1.4 & 1.5 wherein “it is clearly mentioned that airline is not liable to pay any compensation, in cases of cancellation of flight or delay owing to ‘extraordinary’ circumstances beyond the control of the airlines. In this case, OP has relied on the fact that the rescheduling of the flight was done as the airspace was closed by the Govt. of Pakistan. However, it is also seen that the unfortunate incident of Pulwama happened on 14.02.2019 and the Pakistan’s airspace was closed on 27.02.2019 which is seen from Exhibit CW-2/4 wherein the Civil Aviation Ministry has answered a starred question in Lok Sabha that closure of Pakistan’s airspace had affected around 600 flights and were rerouted through Arabian Sea Airspace and it was lifted only on 16.07.2019.
- It is also seen that the complainants were scheduled to travel on 11.03.2019. Though it is clear that the flight was cancelled due to circumstances beyond the control of the OP but as the airspace stood closed on 27.02.2019 and the complainants were to travel on 11.03.2019 therefore, OP had sufficient time and knowledge to inform the complainants about the cancellation of the flight.
On this count this Commission finds OP deficient in their service as they did not provide prior intimation to the complainants regarding the cancellation of their flight, however, this fact is mitigated by another fact that the complainants were made to board on the same day albeit through a different flight by which the complainants reached late along with an infant. Therefore this Commission is of the view that ends of justice would be met by ordering OP to pay a sum of Rs.5,000/- to the complainants within three months from the date of the order failing which the said amount would be increased to Rs.7,500/-.
Copy of the order be provided to the parties as per rules. File be consigned to record room. Order be uploaded on the website.
