Delhi: Kenya Airways directed to pay passenger over Rs 11 lakh

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Delhi has instructed Kenya Airways to offer a compensation of over Rs 11 lakh within two months. The complainant previously alleged that the airline failed to cancel tickets for the journey after the initial flight had been delayed.

The complainant, Rajiv Agarwal, alleged that he had asked the airlines to cancel his return air tickets after discovering that the flight to Nairobi from Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi had been delayed. He realised that he would miss his connecting flight to Harare if he boarded the delayed flight from the national capital and hence asked the airline to go through with the cancellation.

The airlines assured him that he would be able to board his connecting flight, yet Agarwal was informed after reaching Nairobi that the connecting flight to Harare had taken off.

Referring to earlier court orders, the consumer forum observed, “Once tickets have been issued by the airlines, it becomes their duty to transport passengers to their destination.”

The airlines were then directed to pay Rs 11,20,000 to the complainant. The consumer panel said, “We are of the opinion that the complaint deserves to be accepted, more so when the [airline] has not controverted the submissions made by the complainant.”

Yesterday, a Chinese man was apprehended at the same airport for allegedly using a fake ticket to enter the terminal area, a senior official said.

“T Zhiwen was intercepted by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel as he was about to leave the Terminal-3 building of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Sunday. He was stopped and questioned as exiting the terminal area is not usually permitted for passengers,” he said. The man, holding a Chinese passport, told the security personnel that he used a cancelled ticket to enter the terminal area to see off his relatives, who were travelling to Shanghai. The man was subsequently handed over to the police as his ticket was a fake travel document and he was charged with alleged trespass,” he added.

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