Air India on Wednesday clarified that families of victims of the AI-171 crash are under no obligation to accept the airline's final compensation offer within any specified timeframe, responding to concerns raised by Radhika Mishra, daughter of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, who had died in the crash.
In a statement, seen by HT, the airline said there was "absolutely no deadline or pressure on any family or individual to accept our offer within a set timeframe."
"It is for this reason that our offer of final compensation did not set out any timetable for acceptance. Families are entirely free to wait until the investigation report has been released, as some have chosen to do," Air India said.
The clarification comes after allegations that the airline was compelling families to waive their legal rights in order to receive final compensation. Air India, however, maintained that it has sought to ensure that relatives do not feel compelled to choose between immediate financial assistance and awaiting the outcome of the crash investigation.
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{{/usCountry}}The airline noted that the probe is being conducted independently by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and that it has no information on when the final report will be released.
"However, it is also worth pointing out that the investigation is independently conducted by the AAIB, and therefore Air India is not aware of when the report will be released," the statement said.
Explaining its decision to begin the compensation process before the release of the investigation findings, Air India said it had received numerous requests from families and believed it would be unfair to indefinitely delay payments for those wishing to proceed.
"As such, we started our final compensation process in October 2025, once most interim compensation payments had been completed, by sending the claim forms out to families. Since then we have been in dialogue with those families who have wished to engage with us," the airline said.
"Likewise, we have sought to ensure that there is absolutely no reason for families to feel pressured to choose between immediate financial support and awaiting the investigation report," it added.
(With inputs from Neha LM Tripathi)