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NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, NEW DELHI
R.K. Agrawal, President and M. Shreesha, Member
Chief Executive Officer,
Interglobe Aviation Ltd.
(Indigo) and Ors. —Petitioners
versus
Pratyush Chowdhury —Respondent
Revision Petition No.1390 of 2018
(Against the Order dated 27/12/2017 in Appeal No. 1367/2015 of the State Commission West Bengal)
Decided on 28.2.2019
For the Petitioners:Mr. Ajit Warrier and Ms. Tanvi dubey, Advocates
For the Respondent:Mr. Siba Prasanna Ghosh, Advocate
IMPORTANT POINTS
1. Conditions of carriage should be made prominently displayed by airline.
2. Bona fide passenger should not be denied boarding by taking technical plea.
Headnote:Consumer Protection Act, 1986—Section 21(b)—Airlines—Air tickets purchased through International Debit and Shopping Card of SBI-at the airport of source, i.e. at Kolkatta, the staff of the airline refused to issue boarding pass on the ground that the Card through which tickets were purchased was not produced-airline showed the clause to that effect which was incorporated on the ticket—OP relied on “Conditions of Carriage”—State Commission held that debarring bona fide passenger is serious matter-it was confirmed ticket—Officers of the Airlines should not act only in mechanical manner—Compensation of Rs. 50,000/- and refund allowed. Revision dismissed with cost of Rs. 10,000/-.
Held: Admittedly, the endorsement “CC not verified” clearly substantiates the stand of the Complainant that a Credit Card was indeed insisted upon when the ticket was purchased by a debit card and he did not even possess a credit card for him to have furnished the same to Indigo personnel. Such a rigid attitude of the personnel to a bonafide passenger and further when admittedly the Complainant made genuine efforts to settle the issue by mediation, the conduct of Indigo in deducting Rs.5620/- and refunding Rs.3520/- after six months is deprecated. It is strongly recommended that the Airlines display the instructions regarding production of photocopy of the credit/debit card in the event of booking of tickets made by credit card/debit card, prominently at the Check-In Counter and also keep the passengers, who purchase the tickets online, specifically informed, in order to avoid causing any inconvenience or mental agony by denying a bonafide passenger, his or her Boarding Pass.
15. Having gone through the material on record, we are of the considered view that Indigo personnel refused to consider the debit card, which the Complainant had with him and had unfairly not allowed him to board the flight whereby, causing mental agony and inconvenience to the Complainant, who wanted to fulfil his commitment of going to Tirupati at a particular auspicious time to complete his ‘Mannat”, for which the State Commission has rightly awarded a reasonable compensation of Rs.50,000/- and refund of the amount paid. We do not see any illegality or infirmity in the order of the State Commission and hence this Revision Petition is dismissed with cost of Rs.10,000/- to be paid to the Complainant. (Para. 14 and 15)
Result: Revision dismissed.
M. Shreesha, Member—Challenge in this Revision Petition under Section 21 (b) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (in short “the Act”) is to the order dated 27.12.2017 passed by the West Bengal State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (In short “the State Commission”) in First Appeal No. A/1367/2015. By the impugned order, the State Commission has allowed the Appeal setting aside the order of the District Forum and directed the Revision Petitioner (hereinafter referred to as “Indigo”) to refund of Rs.5,620/- (Rs.9140-Rs.3520) within 45 days along with compensation of Rs.50,000/- with default interest @ 9% p.a. if the amount is not paid within 45 days.
2. The facts in brief are that the Complainant purchased confirmed Air Tickets on 24.11.2012 for his journey from Kolkata to Chennai by flight No. 6E 271 on 16.12.2012 at 6:30 a.m. and Flight No. 6E 277 from Chennai to Kolkata on 18.12.2012 at 8:30 p.m. These tickets were purchased by using International Debit and Shopping Card of State Bank of India and an amount of Rs.9,140/- was debited from the Complainant’s account. On the scheduled date of journey i.e. 16.12.2012, the Complainant had reported in time at the check in counter of Indigo at Kolkata Airport, produced the relevant journey ticket together with his photo ID card for issuance of the boarding pass. But Indigo personnel did not issue the boarding pass for flight No. 6E 271 on the ground that in addition to the mandatory requirement of Photo ID Card and the journey ticket, he had to produce his credit card by which his ticket was purchased. The Complainant was shocked with such a stand taken by Indigo and appealed to them that he does not have any credit card and the tickets were purchased by International Debit and Shopping Card and not through credit card and to issue the boarding pass. Indigo showed a clause incorporated in the ticket stating ‘customers who have paid for the booking using credit cards are additionally required to present the credit card or a photocopy of the same at the time of check in’. Though the Complainant requested that the tickets were purchased through debit card and hence cannot produce a credit card, which he did not possess, Indigo personnel did not adhere to his request and insisted that he should produce a credit card which he did not have. They did not consider the debit card, which was placed before them by the Complainant and did not issue the boarding pass. Hence the Complainant was forced to stay back at Kolkata and his return journey had to be cancelled. Thereafter an amount of Rs.5,620/- was also deducted and an amount of Rs.3,520/- was withheld which could be adjusted for any further journey to be undertaken within 12 months.
3. It was averred that the Complainant being a religious man cherished his long time desire to visit Tirupati Mandir on the very first day of Bengali winter month (first day of the month Pousha), which is very auspicious for the Complainant and his family to perform ‘Mannat’ at Tirupati i.e. on 17.12.2012. Therefore, the Complainant purchased the tickets much in advance on 23.11.2012 itself and the tour plan was chalked out accordingly, but his long cherished religious commitment remained unfulfilled. It was averred that it was extremely difficult to get leave as the Complainant is a manager of a nationalized Bank and he had to suffer mental agony, loss of prestige at the check in counter and harassment at the airport apart from the pain of reporting at 4:30 a.m. considering he is 60 years of age. Thereafter, a meeting took place on 13.03.2013 at the office of the Assistant Director, Consumer Affairs and Indigo agreed to refund the cost of the ticket but without any compensation. Vexed with their attitude, the Complainant approached the District Forum seeking a direction to Indigo to pay a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- towards compensation, unfair trade practice and deficiency of service and also for refund of the cost of ticket and other reliefs.
4. Indig
