Consumer panel orders Saudi plane service to pay Rs 1.25 lakh to passenger for baggage loss
Mumbai(PTI): A consumer commission here has directed Flynas Airlines, a Saudi Arabian low-cost carrier, to pay a compensation of more than Rs 1.25 lakh to a passenger for the loss of her baggage.
There was a "mala fide negligence" and the airlines "purposely avoided all the logical actions to find the lost bag," the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Mumbai (Suburban) said in a recent order.
The complainant, along with her family, had gone on a trip to Turkiye from Mumbai between December 23, 2023 and January 3, 2024. Their return flight to the city was booked from Istanbul with a connecting flight from Riyadh.
The complainant stated that at the Istanbul airport, she handed over five bags for check-in.
The airline staff mistakenly tagged only four bags, and the fifth bag went on to the conveyor belt without a tag, she claimed.
The mistake was brought to the notice of the staff present at the ticket and baggage counter.
The complainant was given a physical tag by the staff with an assurance that they will receive all bags at the arrival destination. However, she received only four bags at Mumbai airport.
The complainant made multiple communications through personal meetings, emails, WhatsApp chats and written complaints to locate the lost bag, but got an "unsatisfactory response" from the airlines.
Left with no alternative, she approached the commission for the resolution against deficient service and unfair trade practice by the airlines.
The opposite party remained absent during the hearing, hence the complaint proceeded ex-parte.
The commission, after perusal of all the facts related to the incident, held "there was a mala fide negligence by the Flynas Airlines supporting staff as well as officials who were in communication with the complainant".
"The opposite party didn't give any conclusive reply to the complaint raised by the complainant and its actions were not satisfactory in the said incident," it stated.
The commission pointed out that the airline could have checked the CCTV footage to confirm the incident and could have brought more factual reports on record.
"However, we do not find any genuine efforts taken by the opposite party to confirm the incidence to trace the lost bag," it said.
The airline "purposely avoided all the logical actions to find the lost bag," the commission said.
There are set rules for baggage loss compensation as per the Montreal Convention (1999), which is an international treaty which governs airline liability for passengers and their baggage on international flights.
The commission stated the aggrieved passenger has followed the directions related to filing a complaint.
"However, we have not seen any record which indicates that the airlines has observed the conditions laid down in the Montreal Convention," it added.
The commission underlined that the airline had an opportunity to submit its defence in the present complaint which it did not avail.
"The opposite party remained absent in the whole proceedings of the case even though they have full knowledge of filing of the present complaint by the complainant," it said.
"Hence, we have no doubt in our mind about the negligent act of the opposite party/Flynas Airlines. The allegations of the complainant about loss of luggage by Flynas Airlines are genuine," the commission said.
The complainant is entitled to claim the cost of goods due to the loss of luggage along with compensation, it said.
The commission directed the Flynas Airlines to pay Rs 1.25 lakh to the complainant for the baggage loss with six per cent interest rate from January 15, 2025, till its realisation.
The carrier was also asked to pay Rs 10,000 towards compensation for mental agony.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
