A consumer disputes forum in Amritsar ordered IndiGo Airline to pay a total of Rs 1.20 lakh compensation for 3 passengers who were troubled by mosquitoes in the flight from Delhi in April this year.
In its ruling, the forum took note of the complaint filed by three city lawyers that the airline hadn’t acted on their complaints during the flight, and hence, ordered the company to pay Rs 40,000 to each of the three complainants. Moreover, the airline and Airports Authority of India (AAI) will have to deposit Rs 15,000 in its consumer legal aid account.
Giving the details of the matter, advocate Deepinder Singh,who filed the complainant along with co-passengers Sukhandeep Singh and Updip Singh, said that on April 12, he had gone to Delhi with IndiGo Airlines flight along with his two mentioned friends. “While entering the aircraft, we spotted a number of mosquitoes. When we complained to the staff, they showed helplessness. Instead of taking any remedial measures, they said it was a minor issue and flies or mosquitoes inside the flight were a routine affair. They said fumigation of the plane is not possible every time it takes off,” said the complainant.
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However, IndiGo defended saying, “We took all reasonable care to avoid such instances but the entry of insects or flies cannot be completely guarded against”. But the consumer forum did not find this argument satisfactory.
