IMPORTANT POINT
Denial of boarding on ground of overbooking constitutes deficiency in service.

Dr. B.C. Gupta, Presiding Member —This revision petition has been filed against the impugned order dated 24.02.2016, passed by the Mizoram State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Aizawl (hereinafter referred to as “the State Commission”) in First Appeal No. 1 of 2016, Station Manager, Air India vs. Dr. K. Vanlalzami, vide which, while dismissing the said appeal, the order passed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Aizawl, dated 15.12.2015, in Consumer Complaint No. 11/2015, was confirmed.

2. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the complainant, Dr. K. Vanlalzami, is a student at Dr. S. N. Medical College, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, pursuing her M.D. degree. She booked Air India flight no. AI23 for 08.01.2015 with PNR YVW1 for undertaking journey from Lengpui airport, Aizawl to New Delhi. The flight was scheduled to depart at 2.20 pm on 08.01.2015 from Lengpui Airport for Kolkata, from where the passenger was to take flight to Delhi. It has been stated that the said flight was rescheduled for departure at 4.15 pm on that very day, and the passengers including the complainant were duly informed through messages. The complainant arrived at Lengpui airport at 3.15 pm, i.e. one hour before the rescheduled time of departure, but she was told that the counter had already been closed, as the flight was overbooked. As a result, the complainant was prevented from boarding the train from Delhi to Jodhpur of the same date. The complainant was asked by the Air India to arrange her own flight on future date, but following protest made at the spot, she was rescheduled to fly from Silchar on 13.01.2015, saying that no flights were available from Lengpui airport before 20.01.2015. The complainant had to incur extra expenditure for stay at Aizawl and in commuting to Silchar. It has, further, been alleged in the complaint that she was issued an open ticket for travel from Silchar to Kolkata and then to Delhi on 13.01.2015, as a result of which, no seat was allotted to her. She was subjected to harassment by the staff at Silchar and then at Kolkata, as they objected to her check-in, saying that no seat had been allotted to her. The complainant alleged that she was put to a lot of hardship, stress, tension and inconvenience, because of the failure of Air India to ensure that she could travel as per the booking made with them. The complainant sent a legal notice also on 13.02.2015, which was ignored by the Air India. The complainant filed the consumer complaint in question, claiming an amount of Rs. 2 lakhs as damages and compensation.

3. The District Forum allowed the complaint, vide their order dated 15.12.2015 and held the Air India liable to pay a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh for preventing the complainant from travelling from Lengpui airport on 08.01.2015. Being aggrieved from the order, the opposite party, Air India, filed an appeal before the State Commission, which was dismissed vide impugned order. Being aggrieved, the opposite party Air India is before this Commission by way of the present revision petition.

4. At the time of hearing, the learned counsel for the petitioner stated that it was a usual practice on the part of the Airlines to overbook their flights and in the process, some passengers were made to miss the flight, as they could not get seat in the scheduled flight. The learned counsel stated that there were guidelines issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India to provide compensation in such cases. As per some guidelines issued in June 2010, the compensation could be given under clause 3.5.1 and the amount of such compensation varied from Rs. 2,000/- to Rs. 4,000/-. On a query, the learned counsel stated that they had taken up this plea in appeal before the State Commission, but not before the District Forum.

5. I have examined the material on record and given a thoughtful consideration to the arguments advanced before me.

6. The only point for consideration is whether the opposite