Stinking toilet: Vistara to pay couple Rs 2.6 lakh for ordeal on Chennai-bound flight
The couple booked a Vistara flight to Chennai from Mumbai in March 2023. As soon as they entered the aircraft, they sensed a strong odour of urine from the rear lavatory but thought the staff would clean it before takeoff.
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CHENNAI: A flight from Mumbai to Chennai left a stenchy afternote for couple A Loba Mudra and PR Balasubramaniam. Hence, it is only fair that the consumer commission has ordered TATA SIA airlines Vistara to pay Rs 2,50,000 to the duo as they had to endure bad odour from the plane’s lavatory throughout their journey.
The couple booked a Vistara flight to Chennai from Mumbai in March 2023. As soon as they entered the aircraft, they sensed a strong odour of urine from the rear lavatory but thought the staff would clean it before takeoff.
However, when passengers soon started using the lavatory, the smell only got severe. To make matters worse, the flight, too, was facing some delays in takeoff.
The odour affected Loba Mudra in particular as she is asthmatic. She states that polluted air or unpleasant odour trigger her asthma. She tried various methods to avoid breathing the stench but all in vain. She soon had a headache, throat irritation, nausea, and breathlessness. She even got Balasubramaniam to move to the seat next to hers for mental solace.
When the odour would not subside, Loba, along with other passengers, called one of the flight attendants and requested her to do something to solve the issue. The crew member sprayed a room freshener in the toilet but that only lasted a few minutes, and the stench was back.
Loba then pleaded with the crew to clean the lavatory, or at least stop passengers from using it until the flight started, citing she was an asthma patient and couldn’t tolerate the odour anymore. However, the crew claimed there were no rules or guidelines to solve such an issue.
‘Deficiency in airline’s service caused couple mental agony’
Loba soon developed acute breathlessness, and the couple requested the crew to upgrade their seats to the front of the plane at extra cost. But the flight attendants rudely denied their request, claimed Loba. Balasubramaniam then threatened to disembark if the crew did not address the issue.
The crew first challenged them to do so, then warned them of another security check they would have to go through if they left the flight, the couple said.
The crew also said there was no complaint book system, so they will have to raise any complaint through an e-mail and gave the email id of the airlines to Balasubramaniam, assuring they will also intimate the management about the issue.
The flight finally took off after a delay of 15 minutes, and the odour lingered for another 20 minutes. Because of the stench, the complainants could not eat their food either.
The complainants claimed there was a clear deficiency in the airline’s service and lodged a complaint before the Chennai North District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
The consumer commission, headed by the president D Gopinath and member V Ramamurthy, directed TATA SIA airlines Vistara to pay Rs 2,50,000 to the couple as compensation for the deficiency in its service, mental agony, pain and sufferings, monetary loss, including the flight charges, caused to the complainants. The airline is also directed to pay a litigation cost of Rs 5,000 each to Loba and Balasubramaniam within two months.
