Etihad Airways ordered by court to pay up INR 62,000

Etihad Airways has to pay 7 per cent interest and legal expenses as compensation to the doctor who could not board a flight from Abu Dhabi to Ahmedabad despite having a confirmed ticket

PRAVASISAMWAD.COM

A Vadodara-based doctor, Dr Krutesh Shah had approached the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, seeking compensation from Etihad Airways as well as a travel agent after his return journey was disturbed.

Etihad Airways has been ordered to pay INR 62,000 with 7 per cent interest and legal expenses as compensation to the doctor who could not board a flight from Abu Dhabi to Ahmedabad despite having a confirmed ticket.

• When Dr Shah reached Abu Dhabi, he was told that the flight to Ahmedabad had been overbooked. The only option he was given was to take Abu Dhabi-Delhi flight and later a Delhi-Ahmedabad flight with a promise that his luggage too would reach Ahmedabad airport.

• Dr Shah found out that his luggage had not arrived at Ahmedabad airport. Dr Shah approached the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ahmedabad in 2018 to seek compensation from Etihad Airways

In January 2017, Shah had booked a return ticket of Etihad Airways for San Francisco-Abu Dhabi-Ahmedabad through a travel agent. Before boarding the flight to Abu Dhabi, he was informed by the airline officials at San Francisco airport that he will get his boarding pass for Ahmedabad once he landed at Abu Dhabi. But when he reached Abu Dhabi, Shah was told that the flight to Ahmedabad had been overbooked.

“The only option I was given was to take Abu Dhabi-Delhi flight and later a Delhi-Ahmedabad flight with a promise that my luggage too would reach Ahmedabad airport,” said Shah.

Dr Shah found out that his luggage had not arrived at Ahmedabad airport. Dr Shah approached the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ahmedabad in 2018 to seek compensation from Etihad Airways. He demanded INR 5 lakh as compensation for the mental harassment and towards damages. The commission on January 19 issued an order stating that the airline should pay the complainant INR 62,000 as compensation apart from USD 200, which the airline has paid earlier.

************************************************************************

Readers

These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.

Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world.  We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.

Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.

In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.

For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com