E-Paper
Air India penalised for not refunding ticket upgrade fee to Panchkula resident
Air India did not return the ₹38,508 upgrade fee despite not providing a business class seat to an economy class passenger
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed Air India to refund the economy-to-business upgrade fee to a Panchkula resident.
Apart from the upgrade fee of ₹38,508, along with 9% interest, the airline has also been told to pay the complainant ₹5,000 as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment, and ₹5,000 as litigation cost.
In his complaint, Pankaj Kumar Mahajan, a resident of Sector 6, Panchkula, had said that he had booked tickets for an Air India flight to travel from Delhi to Colombo, Sri Lanka, on February 16, 2019.
After his ticket was confirmed, he was allowed to upgrade the economy class seats to business class on payment of upgrade price.
He said as per norms of the airline, the seat’s upgrade status was required to be notified via email within one to three days, but no later than four hours before the flight’s departure. Also, if the seats are not upgraded, the fee will be refunded within five days from the flight departure.
So, he applied for the upgrade on February 13, 2019, and paid ₹38,508 for it. But he was not provided an upgrade and the airline also failed to refund the money.
Contesting the complaint, Air India said the business class seats in the flight on February 16, 2019, were fully booked. Thus, Mahajan could not be accommodated instantly. He had initially checked into economy class seats and was told if any business class seat falls vacant, he will be informed at the boarding gate and be accommodated, and if not, he will be duly compensated as per rules.
The consumer commission held that the airline had failed to prove by way of any documentary evidence that they upgraded the seats one hour before the flight’s departure and also rejected the refund on false and frivolous grounds.
“The complainant was therefore constrained to file the consumer complaint, causing undue harassment to him and practicing of the unfair trade practice on the part of airlines,” the commission held.
