4 min readNew DelhiJun 16, 2026 11:36 AM IST
First published on: Jun 16, 2026 at 07:00 AM IST
The Kolkata District Consumer Commission has ordered Vistara Airlines to refund a passenger’s ticket cost of Rs 4,916 along with Rs 10,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 litigation costs after she was denied boarding despite holding a valid ticket.
Dealing with the plea of a woman who was travelling from Srinagar to Delhi, a bench of president Kallol Chattopadhyay and member Udayan Roy highlighted that the communication between the complainant and the representative of the airline authority has established the fact that the complainant, being refused boarding to the scheduled flight, has claimed a refund of the entire money towards the ticket price, which was not considered by the authority concerned.
“Repeated requests and such demands of the complainant went in vain due to the adamant attitude of the said authority. It is thus a clear case of unfair trade practice as well as deficiency in service on the part of the airline, for which the complainant suffered harassment and mental agony,” the court said on June 4.
Chaos, queue, boarding denied
This is a complaint filed by a woman against Vistara, owned by TATA SAI Airlines Ltd, under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019. According to her, she booked a flight for her journey from Srinagar to Delhi with Vistara on October 10, 2022.
She arrived at Srinagar Airport well within the designated time frame, where she found herself in a queue for check-in behind several passengers who were dealing with excess luggage charges.
She claimed that she waited patiently for her turn when she observed that the check-in executive moved ahead from the counter, leaving the passenger waiting in the queue.
With the advice of some Airport Staff, the complainant joined the queue of another line, and at that time, she found that the check-in executive of the erstwhile counter returned but remained outside the counter. When the complainant approached him to request a check-in pass, he informed her that check-in was closed and refused to assist her further.
She has to stay four days in Srinagar
She also alleged that some mismanagement of the airport authority at the relevant point in time, some monitoring installation process was going on in the said counters, creating chaos in the said place.
Further contention of the complainant was that she tried to book another flight on the same day but lost money to the tune of Rs 4271 as she booked a ticket for the next month.
She thereafter managed a second flight ticket to return to Delhi, spending an amount of Rs 5111 after four days, and thus, she was compelled to stay at Srinagar, incurring expenses for an additional four days.
The complainant sent several letters and emails on multiple occasions seeking clarification and a refund of money from Vistara Airlines, but all such efforts of the complainant went in vain as such Airline Authority did not pay any heed to such request of the complainant.
Arguments of parties
The TATA SAI Airlines Ltd did not appear, and the court proceeded ex parte against the principal opposite party. The court noted that it did not find any material allegation made by the complainant against the Airport Authority of India, except her stray statement of causing disturbance in the boarding pass issuing counter of Vistara for the purpose of installing computers.
Appearing for the complainants, the advocate contended that the airport authority had nothing to do with issuing boarding passes or with boarding the passenger to the flight, and as such, there is no deficiency of service on the part of the opposite party.
District consumer commission was dealing with a plea of woman against Vistara Airlines who denied boarding despite having valid ticket. (AI-generated Image) 
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