Touch base: A law addressing grievances against low-cost airlines is the need of the hour

First in Surat, then in Chennai and now in Calcutta. Air Deccan offices have been ransacked in these cities within a year of the low-cost airline starting its operation in the country. In all three places, the reason has been the same: delayed or rescheduled flights.

The repeated incidents raise questions not just about the ability of no-frills airlines to run flights on time but, more importantly, about passengers’ rights. Is there any way harassed passengers can vent their anger other than taking the law into their hands? Do they have any legal recourse?

Yes and no, consumer groups say, citing the “grey areas” in the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) of 1986. Worse, India, unlike Europe, doesn’t yet have a law governing low-cost carriers which obligates them to compensate passengers for delays or cancellation.

True, the CPA covers airlines along with the railways and other public and private transport services in the country. This means that a passenger can always file a complaint against an airline ? whether it is a low-cost or a full-service airline ? when there is a “deficiency” in service, lawyers say.

But you will have to establish “negligence” on the part of the airline you are seeking compensation from, says Prabir Basu, lawyer and working president of the Bengal Federation of Consumer Organisations. And therein lies the rub.

GUIDELINES FOR HARRIED PASSENGERS Lodge an immediate complaint with the airport station manager and also with the airline. File a complaint with the consumer court detailing the harassment and agony caused by delays or rescheduling. If the rescheduling results in any economic loss or lost opportunities, give details with supporting evidence. You can file the case with a district consumer forum if the compensation you are seeking is below Rs 20 lakh. You will, however, have to file the case with the state commission for a compensation up to Rs 1 crore and with the national commission for a compensation beyond Rs 1 crore. The consumer courts are supposed to dispose of a case within three months, but because of a backlog, it takes nearly six months in Calcutta and elsewhere in the state.

In 1990, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, the apex consumer court in the country, held that the “mere fact that a flight is operated late will not ipso facto render the airline liable for payment of compensation to the passengers unless there is a proof of negligence on the part of the airline.”

According to the apex consumer court, an airline cannot be blamed for delays or cancellation caused by “bad weather, poor visibility, bird hits and tyre bursts on takeoff or touchdown”. The airline also cannot be hauled up if a wildcat strike by pilots or other “crucial staff” delays flights.

Bad news for consumers, you might say. But don’t lose heart. In several cases, lawyers say, the national commission has ruled in favour of passengers, blaming the airlines for negligence.

“It actually depends on the merit of an individual case and it’s not always hard to establish negligence on the part of an airline, as often it doesn’t even bother to inform passengers of delays or cancellations until they get to the airport,” Basu says.

In fact, the national commission created a benchmark in 1991 when it asked Indian Airlines to pay a passenger Rs 2,000 in compensation and Rs 500 in cost for the late departure of a flight from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi. The complainant, B.B. Das, had got to the Bhubaneswar airport on May 29, 1990 at 4 pm to catch his flight to Delhi scheduled for 5:30 pm, only to be told the flight would leave at 10:30 pm. He returned to the airport at 10 pm, but the flight did not take off until past midnight.

In its ruling, the commission accused Indian Airlines of negligence, saying the airline had not informed passengers of the delay either through the public address system at the airport or over the phone. “It appears that at Bhubaneswar (airport) nobody bothered about the plight of the passengers,” Justice V. Balakrishna Eradi, then president of the commission, noted.

Similarly, if an airline does not allow you to fly despite having confirmed tickets on the ground that the flight is “overbooked,” a common complaint, you can seek redress. The West Bengal State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission asked a private airline to pay Rs 50,000 for causing agony and harassment and for deficiency in service in 1997 after a Calcutta-based businessman bound for Guwahati was not allowed to board despite having a confirmed ticket. The airline, however, has appealed to the national commission against the ruling, where it’s pending.

Phone calls to Capt. G.R. Gopinath, managing director of Air Deccan, were not returned. However, NCS Travels & Tours Pvt. Ltd, a Calcutta-based travel agent, says tickets issued by the airline clearly mention that in case of delays or cancellation, passengers will get a refund, but nothing else.

“It’s a low-cost airline which allows you to fly to, say, Chennai for Rs 3,500 or less. So, you can’t expect the same kind of treatment that you get from the full-service airlines that charge you at least twice the amount,” Shalini Kalyan, assistant manager, NCS Travels & Tours says.

Kapil Kaul, CEO (India & Middle East), Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an international aviation advocacy and research firm, says that with the entry of the several low- cost carriers, India will soon have to enact a law to govern them, especially in matters relating to compensation.

Until then, consumers have, of course, the good old CPA to fall back on.