Delay in flight departure: Order to pay Rs 1.72 lakh as compensation to the passenger

Mangaluru: In the backdrop of a flight failing to leave Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) in time due to which a connecting flight from Mumbai was missed, the Dakshina Kannada district customer dispute solution platform has ordered Jet Airways to pay a passenger Rs 1.72 lakh in compensation.  

The order states that the loss incurred by the passenger was Rs 1,02,800 and applicable since January 3^rd 2017, this needs to be paid with 8% interest along with Rs 70,000 has compensation.

Originally a resident of Field Street in Mangaluru, Omprakash Kayyar was employed at an export business in Mombasa in Kenya and had come to Mangaluru on Dec 8^th 2016. Later he had bought 4 tickets for his wife and kids at the cost of Rs 2,99,529 (US $ 4680) to return back to Mombasa on Jan 2 2017. The timetable was determined similar to his arrival from Mombasa via Nairobi and Mumbai and accordingly he reached MIA with his family.

Later on the return journey he reached MIA on Jan 2^nd. From here he was supposed to reach Mumbai through Jet Airways and then catch a connecting flight from there to Mombasa at 4:30. However, the Jet Airways flight which was supposed to depart from MIA at 10:50 am only took off at 4 pm from the airport. As a result, he missed the connecting flight and had to stay in Mumbai for two days. Later he had to spend further Rs1,02,300 to get a new flight ticket.

In this connection, Mr  Omprakash lodged a complaint against Jet airways claiming a compensation of R 5 lakh. In retaliation, Jet Airways too kept forth its argument. Keshava Nondodi argued in favour of the complainant.