Thousands of passengers face inconveniences regularly owing to flight delays. Scheduled departures getting delayed, even at the last minute, are growing to be a major concern in the aviation industry. Due to an incident related to a flight delay, Air Mauritius has been directed to pay a fine to a couple in Chandigarh. To know more about the incident leading to a penalty, read on.
Air Mauritius Ordered To Pay ₹66,538 To The Complainants
Chandigarh’s District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ordered Air Mauritius to pay a fine of ₹66,538 to a couple. Aaina Nischal and Aditya Guleria, a couple from Chandigarh, filed a complaint against the airline. Aaina booked two Air Mauritius tickets to travel from Mumbai to Mauritius on July 8, 2022. She also bought two airline tickets to return to Mumbai. As per the scheduled journey, the flight was supposed to take off from Mauritius at 6:45 PM on December 21, 2022, according to a report by The Indian Express. Passengers expected to land in Mumbai at 2:25 AM on December 22, 2022.
As they live in Chandigarh, the complainants also had flight tickets to return to their city from Mumbai. To travel from Mumbai to Chandigarh, they booked Vistara flight tickets. They paid Rs ₹14,960 for this journey. The flight’s departure time was at 6:05 AM on December 22. The schedule was to reach Chandigarh at 8:20 AM.
The couple was exploring Mauritius and having a good time till they received an email stating a flight delay. The email mentioned that the Air Mauritius flight scheduled to depart at 6:45 PM on December 21 was delayed to 8:30 PM on the same day. They received the information at 9:59 PM on December 20, just a day before their trip back home. The 1 hour and 45 minutes delay was not the end of their miseries. An email received at 12:21 AM on December 21 stated that the subject flight got delayed to 10:30 PM on December 21.
More About The Incident
The sudden delays led to a major problem for Aaina and Aditya as they landed in Mumbai at about 6:10 AM and failed to board the Vistara flight to travel to Chandigarh. The complainants had to cancel their Vistara tickets. With a refunded amount of ₹6,916, they suffered a loss of ₹8,044. Next, they had to book flight tickets again to return home and paid a hefty amount of ₹43,494. The overall expenditures cost them ₹51,538.
Though Air Mauritius stated that they were unaware of the complainants’ journey to Chandigarh and the couple did not book Mumbai-Chandigarh on the airline portal, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Chandigarh ordered the airline to pay a fine of ₹66,538 to Aaina and Aditya, including compensation of ₹15,000.
Also read: Kochi-Dubai SpiceJet Flight Delayed By 11 Hours; Passengers Protested At Kochi Airport
What are your views on the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission’s decision?
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
For more such snackable content, interesting discoveries and the latest updates on food, travel and experiences in your city, download the Curly Tales App. Download HERE.