Air India staff penalised for asking student for bribe

A consumer court has directed Air India (AI) to pay Rs. 35,000 to a passenger who was asked to pay a bribe to carry extra luggage on one of the carrier's flights to Singapore.

A consumer court has directed Air India (AI) to pay Rs. 35,000 to a passenger who was asked to pay a bribe to carry extra luggage on one of the carrier's flights to Singapore.

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The airline has to pay the compensation to Beena Shah, whose son had been asked for bribe by an airline staff. The court said that the demand for the bribe amounted to causing harassment to her as her son was entitled to carry the extra baggage as per the information on the airline's website.

The forum also asked Air India to compensate Shah, noting that the ministry of civil aviation had admitted that the "unfortunate incident" took place after Shah notified the ministry. Moreover, the ministry had also tendered its apology, saying that there had been some misunderstanding due to misinformation on the website.

"Keeping in view the clear apology expressed by AI to the complainant (Shah) and the misinformation on its website, deficiency on the part of the opposite party (Air India) is clearly established on record. AI was expected to be more courteous and sympathetic to a consumer who was a student and was going to study in Singapore," said the New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum.

The forum's order came on a complaint of Saket resident Shah, who had said that her son being a student was allowed to carry an extra 20 kg of luggage - a total of 40 kg - but on reaching the airport, the staff asked him to pay them extra for the excess luggage and also demanded a bribe from him.

As a result, her son had to leave behind over 15 kg of books and assignments, she had said in her complaint.