The Permanent Lok Adalat (Public Utility Services) in Chandigarh has directed Air India to pay Rs 48,000 to a Chandigarh-based elderly couple for changing their seats on a Delhi-Vancouver flight after charging them an extra premium of Rs 18,000 for them.
According to the complainants Sunil Parti and his wife Kusum, on June 6, 2022, they booked tickets on a June 22 Delhi-Vancouver flight and selected two seats (41C and 41A) with spacious legroom by paying an additional amount of approximately Rs 18,000, 24 hours before their departure, as per requirements.
However, on June 22, while boarding from Delhi, the Partis were surprised to see that their boarding passes had been issued with different seats (32E and 32D), without any prior intimation. When they enquired with the airline staff, they allegedly behaved rudely with the couple and asked them “to sit on the seats allotted now or leave the boarding”. The senior citizens later learnt that the airline had allegedly allotted their seats to some VIPs.
Sunil said that they were fatigued when they arrived at Vancouver airport at 7.15 am on June 22. Due to the airlines, the complainants alleged, they had to travel on another flight from Vancouver to Calgary with body pain.
In its reply on being issued notice, Air India submitted that the petition was devoid of merits, vexatious and was liable to be dismissed as the applicant had suppressed the material facts from the forum. His emergency exit seat was allegedly declined at the boarding gate owing to his ill health. Airlines officials also said that as the couple were senior citizens, they were not found eligible to be seated on emergency exit seats as per the Director General of Civil Aviation’s exit row seating guidelines.
Therefore, the airline said, after evaluation of the physical condition of the applicants, it took the decision to switch their seats to the next best option available and the same was accepted by them. “Switching the seats of the applicants has not gained any pecuniary or otherwise any gains. It was done for the reason of safety and security of entire passengers including applicants,” the airline submitted in its reply.
The airline also said that a warning in the form of a disclaimer was put up on its website along with the eligibility criteria for emergency exit seats, and details about the same are also displayed on the emergency exit gate. Also, as per the disclaimer, “…airline reserves the right to allot an alternate seat at any stage of the journey for operational or safety requirements without assigning any reasons…”
The Lok Adalat bench on hearing the contentions said that, “Maybe the disclaimer as highlighted have been put on the website or elsewhere. But what is the fault of the applicant? When despite this disclaimer, the respondent had the audacity to charge Rs 18,000 extra for the emergency exit seats. Why were the seats not refused before hand? It is the duty of the respondent to check the antecedents of the passengers before awarding such seats after charging for an extra amount. On that count, no fault can be found with the innocent passengers.”
“Obviously given the old age and the duration of the journey which is approximately 15 hours, discomfort that might have been caused to the applicant can well be appreciated. There is no denial that the airline has not refunded the extra premium charged. Without no fault of the applicants, they were made to suffer,” the Lok Adalat held.
The bench presided by Chairman S K Sachdeva and members Sakshi Singh and Roonam Kaushik held that the complainant was entitled to Rs 48,000.
