Emirates Airlines directed to pay Rs 20,000 after repeated delay in services

The petition was filed by CharmrajSukumar, a resident of Mylapore, under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 seeking refund of Rs 79,000 towards the purchase of ticket and premium paid for travel insurance along with compensation.

Forum President M Mony and Member R Baskarkumaravel held that under article 20 of the Carriage of Air Act, 1972, a carrier was not liable if they prove that they have taken all necessary measures to avoid thedamage.

“Even though the airline (Emirates Airline) arranged rerouted flights, the complainant rejected it. So, the airline should only refund the amount equivalent to 20,000 skyward miles towards the unutilized portion of air tickets along with interest rate of 9 per cent from the date (November 2, 2015) of filing the complaint,” said the bench.

The bench directed the airline to pay Rs 10,000 towards compensation for mental agony and deficiency in service with the cost of Rs 10,000.

Charmraj contended that he booked a ticket to San Francisco from Chennai on April 8, 2015. “The flight was delayed from Chennai due to technical snag for over 3 hours. Since the flight was delayed in Chennai, he missed a connecting flight from Dubai to San Francisco. The airline informed him that alternative flight would be rerouted from Dubai to San Francisco via Munich. But, the flight to Munich was also delayed due to technical snag,” read the petition.

Refusing to accept further reroute and delay in flights, he returned to Chennai from Dubai. But when the carrier offered him 20,000 skyward miles, he rejected it and claimed for a total refund.