Muzaffarpur: The Muzaffarpur Consumer Commission has imposed a fine of Rs 5.5 lakhs on Air India for deboarding two passengers on a Delhi-Bangkok flight in Kolkata in February 2022. The Commission has ordered the airlines to pay the amount to the victim Aditya and his colleague, within 45 days. The duo ran a business in Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, and booked tickets from Delhi to Bangkok for a business trip.
The plane was scheduled to take off from Delhi and reach Thailand via Kolkata. However, both Aditya and his colleague were dropped at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, without any justification.
Aditya, along with his friend, were forced to board another flight from Kolkata and returned to Delhi. Embarrassed and angry, Aditya complained to the Consumer Commission after returning to his Muzaffarpur home.
During the court hearing, Air India in its defence said that Aditya and his friend were not carrying Thailand's boarding pass and necessary COVID-19 vaccination certificate. The Consumer Commission has ruled out the airline's argument, stating that the tickets should have been cancelled in the first place if the passengers did not have the necessary documents.
Flying them from New Delhi and dropping them at Kolkata Airport without any proper notice is a matter of error in the airline's service. The court referred to it as 'A case of service error'. The division bench of the Consumer Commission headed by Chairman Piyush Kamal Dixit, along with Anusuiya and Sunil Kumar Tiwari, heard the case.
The court has ordered the airlines to pay the ticket price with due interest to the victims.
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