Among the many problems that the pandemic caused, one of the major was travel. Especially when the pandemic was first announced, many people who were in the middle of travel, struggled to return home. One such person was Narinder Kaur. She had plans to visit the city of Melbourne in Australia in February 2020. She therefore decided to book a return ticket to New Delhi on Air India via the travel platform Yatra.com.
Chandigarh: Air India & Yatra Fined ₹20,000 For Not Refunding
According to an article recently published in Hindustan Times, Kaur’s return ticket was cancelled owing to the lockdown. She was then forced to purchase a new ticket under the Vande Bharat Mission. The Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Kaur contended as per the HT article, stated that travel during lockdown would be refunded in full even without cancellation.
However, Air India had neither refunded the amount nor had they adjusted her new ticket against the cancelled one. Kaur, who is a resident of Sector 44, managed to come back in July of the same year. She filed a complaint against Air India as well as Yatra.com.
As per the HT article, Air India resisted the complaint since the ticket was booked via a third-party platform and they do not track the ticket’s status once it is purchased by a third party. Yatra.com, on the other hand, stated that it didn’t bear responsibility since it was only an intermediary.
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District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
The district consumer disputes redressal commission has now directed both, the platform as well as the airline, to refund the amount of the flight ticket to the Chandigarh resident. The amount was close to ₹40,000 and it is to be paid at an interest rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of the return journey.
In addition to this, the airline and the platform were also directed to pay ₹10,000 as a cost for mental harassment and another ₹10,000 for litigation.
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Have you ever had any such experience while you were travelling? Let us know in the comments below!
Cover Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons