IndiGo ordered to pay Rs 60K after passenger misses flight over missing terminal details

NEW DELHI: A Chhattisgarh district consumer commission, in an order dated July 21, held IndiGo liable for deficiency in service after a passenger missed his flight because neither his ticket nor the SMS informing him of a revised departure time mentioned the terminal from which the flight would depart. Holding that the airline failed to provide complete information to the passenger, the commission directed it to pay Rs 60,000 as compensation, litigation costs and damages for mental agony.Why did the passenger approach the consumer commission?According to the commission's order, complainant Amitesh Pathak had booked return tickets for himself and his family from Delhi to Raipur for March 31, 2015, after a vacation. The family paid Rs 13,161 for the tickets. Before the journey, the airline informed him through an SMS that the flight's departure time had been advanced from 5.50 pm to 5.35 pm. However, the SMS did not mention the departure terminal.The complainant alleged that since his incoming flight had landed at Terminal 3 and the ticket also did not mention the departure terminal, he assumed the return flight would leave from the same terminal. He reached Terminal 3 about an hour before departure, but came to know that the flight was actually departing from Terminal 1D, which was around 7.5 km away.He further alleged that by the time he learnt about the correct terminal, he could not reach Terminal 1D and complete check-in 45 minutes before departure, as required by the airline. As a result, he and his family missed the flight, spent the night at the airport and had to buy fresh tickets worth Rs 21,135 to travel the next day. The airline rejected his claim when he asked for compensation, after which he approached the consumer commission.The airline, in its reply to the complainant's legal notice, claimed that he had reached the airport late and therefore could not be allowed to board under its check-in policy.Why did the commission rule against IndiGo?The bench comprising President Dakeshwar Prasad Sharma and members Nirupma Pradhan and Anil Kumar Agnihotri observed that while the airline had informed the passenger about the revised departure time through an SMS, it had failed to mention the departure terminal either in the SMS or on the ticket. It noted that because of this omission, the passenger reached Terminal 3 based on the information available to him and could not reach Terminal 1D in time to board the flight.The commission also noted that the passenger had sought CCTV footage from the airline to establish that he had reached the airport on time, but the airline did not provide it. It found that the airline's failure to clearly communicate the correct terminal was the reason the passenger missed the flight."The above circumstances arose because the opposite party failed to provide the correct terminal information, which clearly amounts to deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice," the commission observed.The commission, however, held that the travel agency through which the ticket was booked was not liable as it had no role in communicating flight rescheduling or terminal information after the booking was made.Holding the airline guilty of deficiency in service, the commission directed it to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation, Rs 5,000 for mental agony and Rs 5,000 towards litigation costs within 45 days. It also said that if the amount is not paid within the stipulated period, the compensation amount would carry 6 per cent annual interest until payment.