“The complainant’s first grievance is that during her journey with opposite party one (Air Canada) from Toronto to London, she was not provided the vegan meal which was requested and confirmed in advance. Instead, she was offered non‑vegetarian food, which compelled her to remain without food for over 10 hours. This clearly amounts to deficiency of service on the part of the airline,” the July 1 order read.
The commission clarified that it is “unreasonable” to assume that a strictly vegetarian person would make a special request for vegan meals on connected flights with Air India but not on a 10‑hour flight with Air Canada. “The record indicates that the complainant consistently requested vegan meals during her journey,” it added. It also held Air India liable for delivering the woman’s bag after a delay of two days.
Fasting, missing bag and hassle
The woman claimed that she had booked tickets for an international and domestic journey from Toronto to London by Air Canada and London to Chandigarh by Air India via Mumbai with a specific pre-confirmed request for a vegan meal owing to her religious and health requirements, which was acknowledged. However, she added that the request was not met on the Toronto–London flight, where a non-vegetarian meal was served instead, and no alternative vegan meal was arranged.
She claimed that she was forced to remain without food for more than 10 hours, causing physical weakness, distress and mental agony. It was further stated that upon arrival in Mumbai on December 31, 2025, she discovered that one of her two checked-in suitcases containing personal belongings worth over Rs 2 lakh was missing, despite having been handed over at Toronto.
The complainant further claimed that she was unjustifiably restrained, questioned and not permitted to board her scheduled connecting flight from Mumbai to Chandigarh, thereby being subjected to harassment and humiliation at Mumbai airport.
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The woman pointed out that only after a prolonged delay was she issued a fresh boarding pass for an alternative flight, disrupting her travel plans. She added that due to the missing baggage, she had to purchase fresh clothes, medicines and essentials, incurring expenditure of more than Rs 2 lakh.
She claimed that she emailed the airline, but the matter was not resolved, following which she approached the commission alleging deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on the part of Air India and Air Canada.
Air Canada’s defence
The airline, represented by advocate Yoginder Nagpal, submitted that the grievance regarding the non-provision of a vegan meal on the flight from Toronto to Mumbai is based on the false premise that such a meal was pre-booked. It was claimed that, as per official records, no such request was ever submitted to or received by Air Canada before departure.
It was claimed that, as per the relevant laws, special meal requests must be submitted at least 24 hours before departure, which was not done in this case. Nagpal also submitted that Air Canada’s catering vendors had no instruction to load a vegan meal, and records clearly show that the complainant’s itinerary involved multiple airlines and the only vegan meal request was made with Air India, not Air Canada.
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Regarding the missing baggage, the counsel of Air India, advocate Daksh Prem Azad, submitted that due to unavoidable operational constraints at the originating station, approximately 50 pieces of baggage could not be loaded on the said flight, resulting in short‑landing of certain baggage, including that of the complainant.
It was added that short‑landed baggage arrived on January 1, which was promptly forwarded to Chandigarh, and as per the official delivery report, was delivered on January 3 at 10 pm in good, intact and locked condition without any damage or loss.
‘No food for 10 hours’
The commission noted that during the first phase of the journey, the woman travelled through Air Canada and was not offered a vegan meal, and in the second phase of the journey from London to Mumbai, out of her two check-in bags, one bag was found missing.
Noting that the woman was vegetarian and her request for a vegan meal was confirmed in advance, yet she was offered non‑vegetarian food, which compelled her to remain without food for over 10 hours, the commission held that it amounts to deficiency of service on the part of the airline.
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It further held that Air India was liable to compensate the woman for the agony and physical harassment she endured due to its deficient service after it delivered her missing bag two days later, pointing out that the delay and inconvenience cannot “absolve” the airline of its negligence.
Accordingly, the commission directed each airline to pay Rs 45,000 to the complainant as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment, besides Rs 10,000 jointly as costs of litigation.
Takeaway
The ruling highlights that airlines can be held liable for failing to provide confirmed special meals and mishandling baggage. Consumer forums can award compensation in cases where airline negligence causes avoidable hardship to passengers.
For consumer-related grievances, individuals may contact the consumer helpline in their respective states and union territories (Chandigarh: 0172-270-0183) or call the National Consumer Helpline at 1915 for assistance.
