A Consumer court has ordered private airliner IndiGo to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation to a police official after it refused to allow a criminal in his custody to board the aircraft from Mumbai to the city last year.
In his order G Siddanagoud, President of the Bangalore IV Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, said the authorities of the airliner were liable to pay compensation for gross deficiency in providing service to the passengers.
The incident took place in August last year when P N Ganesh, the then Sub Inspector of Police, Hosalli police station in Doddaballapur taluk of Bangalore Rural district, along with a constable went to Mumbai to arrest an accused Akthar Hussain, who had produced false address in Doddaballapur to get his passport and fly out of the country.
After the arrest was made with the help of Mumbai police, the police official was asked by a court in the metropolis to produce the arrested within three days in a Bangalore court.
Sensing the urgency the police official, bought three tickets to fly to the city by IndiGo Airlines. Just before boarding the Aircraft, the airline officials refused entry without assigning any reason and later said only a part of the airfare of Rs 15,600 could be refunded.
With no money left, the police official told the consumer court that he had to sell his gold ring to come by road and reach the city in time to produce the arrested in the court. This amounted to the official and the other two co-passengers suffer irreparable hardship and untold loss Hence, the airline should reimburse him the airfare and sought a compensation of Rs 80,000 in his petition.
After perusing the document, the Forum, in its order yesterday, asked the airliner to reimburse the entire amount of Rs 15,600 towards the airfare along with an interest of 15 per cent from August 26, 2008, till the date of realisation.
It also ordered the airliner to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 to the complainant with costs of Rs 5,000.
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