DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM

WEST TRIPURA :  AGARTALA

 

CASE   NO:   CC- 59 of 2018

 

Shri Dr. Ranendra Kumar Barman,

Resident of Rabindra Palli, Q/8 No.-Type IV/27,

P.O. Agartala, P.S.-West Agartala,

Dist.-West Tripura    .…..............…..........................Complainant.

 

            -VERSUS-

 

1. The Indigo, to be represented by the In-Charge,

Central Wing, Ground Floor, Thapar House-124,

Janpath, New Delhi-110001, India.

 

2. The Indigo,

Agartala Customer Care Office,

Represented by its Senior Officer, Agartala Office,

Airport Authority of India, Agartala Airport,

Agartala-799009, West Tripura.

 

3. The Indigo, In-Charge,

Being represented by Ms Supriya Sinha, Agartala Airport, Tripura(W),

PS-Airport Authority, West Tripura,

Pin-799009.

 

4.  Sameer Sahani,

Customer Relations,

InterGlobe Aviations Ltd(“Indigo”),

Tower D, 5th Floor, Global Business Park,

Mehrauli Gurgaon Road,

Gurgaon-122002, Haryana......................................... Opposite parties.

 

      __________PRESENT__________

 

 SRI BAMDEB MAJUMDER

PRESIDENT,

  DISTRICT CONSUMER  

DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM,

      WEST TRIPURA, AGARTALA. 

 

SMT. Dr. G. DEBNATH

MEMBER,

  DISTRICT CONSUMER 

DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, 

  WEST TRIPURA,  AGARTALA.

 

SRI U. DAS

MEMBER,

  DISTRICT CONSUMER 

DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, 

  WEST TRIPURA,  AGARTALA.

 

C O U N S E L

 

For the Complainant : Sri Abhimanya Datta, 

Legal Representative of 

For the O.P. Nos. 1,2,3 & 4 : Sri Raju Datta,

  Advocate.  

                                                                                                                        

JUDGMENT  DELIVERED  ON:     23/04/2019

J U D G M E N T

The complainant Dr. Ranendra Kumar Barman, set the law in motion by presenting the petition U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 complaining deficiency of service by the O.Ps. 

  The complainant's case, in brief is that the Complainant along his wife and son had availed Air Journey by Indigo Airlines on 15/05/2017 from Bangaluru to Agartala via Kolkata by Indigo connecting Flights 6E 433 & 6E 374. At the time of check-in at the Indigo counter at Bangaluru the Complainant had booked one luggage having bearing tag  No.041143 issued by the Indigo Authority at the Bangalore Airport. On the same day i.e. 15/05/2017 after arriving at Agartala Airport the complainant did not find his luggage at the conveyer Belt. The complainant brought the matter to the notice of the staff of the Indigo Airlines and also lodge a complaint with him. The Staff of the Indigo namely Ms. Supriya Sinha then gave the Complainant Property Irregularity Report(PIR) wherein it has been clearly mentioned that the luggage bearing tag No. 041143 is missing. So, the Complainant could not get his luggage from the Indigo Authority. Accordingly to the complainant the luggage contained very costly garments and valuable wearing items of which there were some ancestral Indian cloths which got high emotional attachment with the various auspicious ceremonies and members of the family of the Complainant. The complainant was harassed and was dissatisfied with the services of the Indigo Authority. The complainant has stated in his complaint that due to the failure on the part of the O.Ps. to recover the lost luggage, the complainant suffered pecuniary loss to the tune of Rs.1,50,000/- apart from mental agony and anxiety. In order to trace out the luggage the complainant contacted Indigo Customer Help Line several times and registered complaint. He also mailed several complaints and made queries about the missing luggage to the Indigo Customer Help Line but all his efforts went in vain. 

  Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the O.Ps. the complainant filed the present complaint before this Forum claiming Rs.1,50,000/- being the cost of garments etc. contained in the missing luggage, Rs.50,000/- for mental agony & harassment and in addition a sum of Rs.1000/- per day from 15/05/2017 (day of journey) till the day of payment of compensation order to be made by the Forum for the harassment and hardship suffered by the complainant and Rs.30,000/- as cost of litigation. 

Hence this case. 

2. In due course of time notices were sent to the O.Ps. from the Forum. All the O.Ps. have appeared and by engaging their Counsel  have submitted their written statement denying the allegations of the  Complainant.  The O.Ps. have however admitted  about the  journey performed by the complainant and his two family members from Bangaluru to Agartala via Kolkata on 15/05/2017 by Indigo connecting Flight Nos.6E 433 & 6E 374 respectively.  They also admitted about the missing of a piece of baggage of the complainant and furnishing Property Irregularity Report(PIR) relating to the said missing of baggage to the Complainant. According to the O.Ps. the staff of Indigo made all possible efforts to trace the said baggage but they were unsuccessful in recovering the baggage. The O.Ps. have stated in their written statement that the total weight of the checked in baggage of the complainant bearing tag No.0312041143 is 12 Kg. and that as per the provisions of the binding of the contract between the complainant and the Indigo conditions of the carriage- domestic, in case of loss of baggage the liabilities of the Airline is Rs.350/- per Kg. subject to a maximum limit of Rs.20,000/-. Accordingly the Indigo Airlines offered the complainant Rs.4,200/- as the lost baggage was weighing 12 Kg. According to the O.Ps. the Complainant has refused to accept the amount offered for reasons best known to him.  The O.Ps. have denied any deficiency of service having been committed by them towards the complainant and committing any act which caused sufferings, inconvenience, hardship, agony & harassment to the Complainant as alleged by the complainant.  The O.Ps. have thus prayed for dismissing the Complaint in the interests of justice.             

3. EVIDENCE ADDUCED BY THE PARTIES:

    The Complainant has examined himself as PW-I and he has submitted examination-in-Chief by way of Affidavit. In this case the complainants produced 04 documents namely Indigo Air ticket bearing PNR-T7B8XL, Property Irregularity Report(PIR) issued by the Indigo Authority, 04 Nos. Boarding passes & E-mails exchanged between the complainant and other parties. The documents are marked Exhibit-I series. 

The O.Ps. however did not take any step on the date fixed for recording the evidence of the Complainant. So the Complainant had not been cross-examined by the O.P. side. 

The O.Ps. also did not come forward to adduce either oral and documentary evidence though opportunity was given to them. 

 

4. POINTS TO BE DETERMINED:

Based on the contentions raised by both the parties in their pleadings and having regard to the evidence adduced by the complainant the following points cropped up for determination:

(I) Whether there was deficiency of service on the part of the O.Ps.?

  (II) Whether the complainant is entitled to get compensation/relief as prayed for?

 

5. DECISION AND REASONS FOR DECISION:

  On perusal of the Complaint and the evidence on record we find that the Complainant along his wife and son had availed Air journey on 15/05/2017 from Bangaluru to Agartala via Kolkata by Indigo connecting Flights 6E 433 & 6E 374. At the time of check-in at the Indigo counter at Bangaluru the Complainant had booked one luggage having bearing tag  No.041143 issued by the Indigo Authority at the Bangalore Airport. After arriving at Agartala Airport the complainant did not find his booked luggage at the conveyer belt. The complainant accordingly lodged a complaint with the staff of Indigo namely Miss. Supriya Sinha. Miss Sinha gave him Property Irregularity Report(PIR) wherein it has been clearly mentioned there that luggage of the complainant is missing. The O.Ps. in their written statement did not deny this fact. Accordingly to the Complainant the luggage contained rare valuable costly garments/wearing apparels of the Complainant and his family members which he claimed to have high emotional attachment with various auspicious ceremonies. The complainant in his complaint as well as in his evidence has stated that he has suffered pecuniary loss to the tune of  Rs.1,50,000/- on account of the missing of his luggage apart from suffering mental agony,  anxiety and harassment. The complainant has not however submitted list of the garments/wearing apparels and also their prices which he had carried in the luggage. Obviously the lost items were not new. The complainant and his family member might have used  them earlier. Hence, in absence of any cogent and clear evidence on record as to the value of those items we are of the opinion that some sort of guess work need to be done for assessing the value of them. After giving thoughtful consideration  in the matter we find it proper to pay Rs.20,000/- on this count. The offer given by the O.Ps. in their written statement of Rs.4,200/- as compensation for the missing baggage seems to us too meager and impracticable. This is according to us unworthy and fit to be ignored. We do not consider it appropriate to entertain it. 

We find and hold that the failure on the part of the O.Ps. to deliver the booked luggage to the complainant at the Agartala Airport is a clear case of deficiency of service on the part of the O.Ps. According to us due to the deficiency of service committed by the O.Ps. the complainant and his family members who had availed the Air journey from Bangaluru to Agartala via Kolkata on 15/05/2017 had suffered mental agony & harassment. 

For all the foregoing reasons we find and hold that the complainant has succeeded in establishing that the O.Ps. were deficient in rendering services to the complainant. That being the situation the Complainant according to us is entitled to get compensation.

6. In the result, the Complaint U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act ,1986 filed by the Complainant is allowed on contest. It is here by directed that the O.Ps. will pay Rs.20,000/- for the loss of garments/wearing apparels of the complainant and his family members, being the cost of the same. The O.Ps. will  pay Rs.20,000/- to the Complainant for causing mental agony and harassment for him and his family members together with Rs.3000/- being the cost of litigation. Thus the O.Ps. are to pay in total Rs.43,000/- i.e. (Rs.20,000/- + Rs.20,000/-+ Rs.3,000/-) to the Complainant within a period of 2 months from the date of judgment failing which the amount of compensation shall carry interest @9% P.A. till the payment is made in full.   

ANNOUNCED

 

 SRI BAMDEB MAJUMDER

PRESIDENT,

DISTRICT CONSUMER  DISPUTES 

REDRESSAL FORUM,

WEST TRIPURA,  AGARTALA

 

 

 

 SMT. DR. G. DEBNATH,

 MEMBER, 

DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, 

WEST TRIPURA, AGARTALA SRI U. DAS

MEMBER,

DISTRICT CONSUMER 

DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, 

 WEST TRIPURA,  AGARTALA.