Airline To Pay ₹8000 For Damaged Trolley Bag To Passengers

A man filed a lawsuit against an airline! Yes, the airline pays ₹8000 in compensation when the wheel of his trolley bag broke in the checked-in baggage. The man, named Rabi Kumar Padhy, battled a four-year legal struggle with a consumer court. As he was dissatisfied with the replies he received from ground workers at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. When the matter went to court, the judges allegedly admonished the airline for its poor service. The court instructed the airline that the consumer be reimbursed for his baggage and given an extra ₹3,000 to pay his court costs within 45 days. Let’s know the whole story of this man who has just won a case over an Airline.

Story Starts on the Route to Bengaluru from Vishakhapatnam

Padhy was on his way to Bengaluru from Vishakhapatnam when the incident happened in July of 2017. He had checked his trolley luggage when the incident occurred. But, according to the report, when Rabi Kumar recovered the luggage from the KIA conveyer belt in Bengaluru, he found out that one of the bag’s four wheels was missing.

Padhy’s initial reaction was to submit a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) with KIA’s ground personnel. The workers replied and investigated this complaint. However, a response from the airline official was received later, after two days, and instructed him to give over the bags to a vendor to get them fixed.

However, he got no answer until three months after the bag got handed over. After enquiring again with the airline official he came to know that the vendor could not fix the bag. When the guy complained about the damage, the airline first paid him ₹1,000 in compensation. But he was not satisfied, so after putting pressure eventually, the airline increased it to ₹3,000 as a final payment. Padhy filed a complaint against the airline’s customer care manager at Bangalore’s 2nd additional district consumer disputes redressal commission in Shantinagar. As he was dissatisfied with the offer.

Also Read: Bangalore Man Hacks IndiGo Website To Find Lost Luggage After No Help From Airline

The Court

As proceedings started in November 2017, airline workers’ attorneys argued that Padhy’s lawsuit had no validity and asked for it to be dismissed. Instead, a new wheel, although one of a different color, was installed, in the airline’s opinion. Consequently, the airline decided to make all of the trolley bag wheels the same color.

Even though the passenger was unable to present a bill to support his claim of  ₹20,000 for the luggage. Instead, the judges determined that the airline pays ₹8000 in compensation. As the airline waited three months to resolve the issue and failed to provide an explanation for the delay in court.

Also Read: Driving From Bengaluru To Goa? Get A Permit Or Pay ₹10,000 Fine