British Airways has been ordered by a consumer court here to pay Rs 22,500 as compensation and litigation costs of Rs 5,000 to an Indian passenger for denying him a seat in their flight despite his having a confirmed ticket.
However, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission rejected the complainant's claim for Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 million) and said asking compensation for remote losses like "injury to professional standing and loss of reputation in the international community" was "not maintainable."
The commission took into account the complainant's actual losses and said the sum of pounds 150 the international carrier had paid him for denying him boarding was not enough.
"A passenger who is denied boarding should be offered hotel accommodation, and also paid compensation and it is not that it should be done only on his request. A passenger may decline hotel accommodation (like in the present case) but he should be apprised of the offer," the commission said.
In similar cases, the international practice was to provide both hotel accommodation and to fly out the passengers on the first available flight besides paying a compensation ranging from $300 to $400, the commission said.
The complainant, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, was entitled to Rs 5,000 as cost of one day's stay in a hotel in Delhi and also compensation equivalent to pounds 200, the commission said.
The airline said Bhatt was denied boarding on Apr 13, 1996 due to overbooking. To compensate Bhatt for the inconvenience caused, he was given an executive class seat in the next day's flight to Mexico though he was originally holding an economy class ticket, it added.