Airline's Mistake Costs Them: SpiceJet to Pay Rs 25,000 for Wrong Ticket

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Consumer Commission has directed SpiceJet to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 to a senior citizen for issuing a wrong ticket. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Mumbai (Suburban) held that the senior citizen had suffered mental stress and financial loss due to the wrong ticket being issued and hence the airline should pay him appropriate compensation.

Actually, the incident took place in December 2020, when the senior citizen from Ghatkopar had booked a round-trip ticket from Mumbai to Darbhanga with SpiceJet. Although his initial journey went as planned, the return flight was cancelled due to bad weather. The passenger told the airline that he had to appear for a PhD online exam in Mumbai on December 8, so considering the seriousness of the situation, the airline arranged an alternate route via Patna and Kolkata.

But this replacement booking turned out to be a mess. The connecting flight from Kolkata to Mumbai was scheduled to depart before the passenger reached Kolkata from Patna. This mistake left him stranded in Patna, forcing him to buy a new ticket for the next day with his own money. As a result, he also had to miss his important online exam.

Later, the senior citizen approached the consumer forum alleging negligence and deficiency in service by the airline. He sought a refund of Rs 14,577 along with Rs 2 lakh for mental agony and Rs 25,000 for legal expenses.

SpiceJet responded that the flight was cancelled due to bad weather, which was beyond their control and that they had refunded the ticket fare through the booking agent. They also said that they had issued an alternate flight ticket to the passenger free of cost. The consumer commission admitted that the cancellation of the flight was not the airline's fault, adding that issuing the wrong ticket was clearly negligent.

The Commission noted that the passenger could have been saved from further inconvenience by carefully checking the ticket at the time of issue. The Commission therefore concluded that the airline was at fault for causing unnecessary stress and inconvenience. In its final order passed on June 17, the commission directed SpiceJet to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation for mental agony and Rs 5,000 towards litigation costs.

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