Fine of ₹ 1.05 lakh on Air India: Stopped from keeping medicine in cabin bag, did not even provide food when flight was delayed

The District Consumer Forum, while giving verdict against Air India in two separate cases, has imposed a total fine of Rs 1 lakh 5 thousand. This case pertains to Sangeeta Asthana and Rakesh Saxena, residents of Arera Hills, Bhopal, who faced problems due to non-availability of essential facilities like medicines and wheelchair in Air India flights.

First case: wheelchair not provided Sangeeta Asthana and Rakesh Saxena faced problems in the connecting flight from Bhopal to Mumbai and then from Mumbai to Chennai. Sangeeta Asthana is a BP and diabetes patient, but Air India did not allow her to keep medicines in her cabin bag during the journey. Apart from this, despite repeated demands for a wheelchair, Air India did not provide it.

After reaching Chennai, he was told that his bag was left in Mumbai. The bag was delivered to the hotel at 12 midnight with a delay of 5 hours. The Forum held Air India guilty of deficiency in service and imposed compensation of Rs 20,000 for deficiency in service, Rs 25,000 for mental distress and Rs 10,000 as litigation expenses.

Second case: flight delay, lack of arrangement In the second case, Sangeeta and Rakesh were returning from the US to India for their daughter’s admission. His flight at Delhi airport, which was earlier scheduled for 11:20 am, was canceled due to technical reasons and he was given a seat in the 3 pm flight. During this period, Air India neither made food arrangements nor provided diabetes medicines which were necessary for them.

The Forum imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Air India for deficiency in service, Rs 20,000 for mental distress and Rs 5,000 as litigation expenses. In this decision, the forum said that Air India did not properly inform and ignored the problems of the passengers despite lack of necessary facilities.