Representative image of an Air India Express carrier.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: Disappointed with the less compensation offered by Air India Limited over her lost baggage during her travel, a 61-year-old woman moved a consumer court in Bengaluru.
The commission deemed the payment made by the airline to be fair but ordered it to pay an additional compensation of Rs 25,000 for the delay in refunding her.
The woman travelled on a non-direct Air India flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru with two bags on January 3, 2023. Upon arrival, she found one of her bags, weighing 27 kg, missing and eventually filed a complaint with the airline.
Acknowledging her concern, Air India filed a property irregularity report and informed the complainant.
The Montreal agreement mandates airlines to compensate travellers in case they fail to locate lost baggage within 28 days. As Air India was unsuccessful in finding the woman’s bag in this case, it offered to pay her Rs 44,685, while she demanded Rs 2.29 lakh according to her estimation.
Air India compensated Rs 44,685 on February 10, 2023, by assigning 20 US dollars per kg. As of January 3, 2023, 1 USD was equivalent to Rs 82.77.
The complainant was not satisfied with the compensation and provided more bills and documents. Later, on March 6, 2023, she sent a legal notice to the airline.
Three months later, on June 13, 2023, the airline sent her an additional Rs 5,841 after calculating the compensation as per the Montreal convention. However, the woman was determined to receive the compensation as per her estimation and filed a complaint before the consumer disputes redressal commission.
The woman prayed for Rs 2.2 lakh in compensation with 18 percent interest until realisation. Additionally, Rs 1 lakh was requested for mental agony and Rs 25,000 towards litigation charges.
The airline informed the court that they had compensated her earlier based on their internal compensation policy, which entitled the woman to Rs 44,685 for the lost bag.
“The woman was entitled to 17 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) per kilogram of the lost bag, according to the Montreal Convention. She was entitled to 459 SDRs as her bag weighed 27 kg (17*27),” Air India told the court.
“We have fulfilled the compensation requirements in line with the Montreal Convention,” they added.
The court observed that the Montreal Convention governs a liability of 17 SDRs per kg for airlines in cases of lost baggage. However, passengers can claim higher compensation by proving the actual value of the lost item.
In this case, the woman was able to submit bills totalling Rs 48,843. Hence, the court concluded that the compensation by Air India was fair, according to the Montreal Convention.
However, it penalized the airlines for the delay in full payment to the passenger.
Finally, the court ordered Air India to pay Rs 25,000 to the passenger for “inconvenience,” “mental agony,” and hardship faced by the complainant, and also Rs 5,000 towards litigation.