Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Mar 11: SpiceJet Ltd has been ordered to pay compensation of Rs 47,800 to a passenger who lost his baggage while travelling from Bengaluru to Delhi recently.

In the complaint registered by Sanjeev Kumar Mishra, it is said that he flew by SpiceJet flight on January 21, 2019 from Bengaluru to Delhi. On reaching Delhi, he found that his luggage was missing. Mishra duly brought this to the notice of the concerned authorities, who assured him that his luggage would be traced and returned to him within 48 hours. However, the airline called Mishra after 15 days and told that his luggage could not be traced.

The airline offered an compensation of Rs 2,800 to Mishra, calculating Rs 200 per kilo of the weight of the missed baggage, which weighed 14 kilos. The passenger did not accept the compensation and said that the cost of the baggage alone was Rs 3,500. In addition, Mishra claimed that he lost his Voter's ID card, Aadhaar card, medical documents, shaving set, educational and professional documents, clothes, slippers, screw tightening tools, medicines and mobile charger worth Rs 47,500 and cash of Rs 27,500.

Mishra asked the airline to pay him an amount of Rs 78,450 as compensation. He also could not pay the school fees of his children as he could not make any banking transaction after losing his PAN card, which was in the luggage.

SpiceJet, in its defense, said that the passengers are not allowed to keep valuable items like cameras, jewelry, cameras, medication, electronic and other perishable items in the checked-in-baggage. The airline cannot be held responsible for the missing and damage to such valuable items, if the same are kept in the luggage.

The airline pointed out that the negligence was on the part of the passenger who had carelessly kept such valuables in the checked-in baggage. It also argued that there is no proof with the passenger with regards to the content of the lost baggage. Further, the airlines said in its defense that the said items might have stolen by thieves, miscreants or fellow passengers.

SpiceJet was ordered to pay Rs 2800, Rs, 35,000 for the mental agony the passenger has undergone and Rs 10,000 as charges for litigation by the Bengaluru Additional Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, headed by its president H R Srinivas and member D Suresh.

In the judgement the consumer forum also said that an interest of 12% per annum needs to be paid to the passenger, from the date of passing of the order, if the same is not paid to the concerned passenger within a month.