Lost baggage in overseas travel? Get back $1,400

“Today, when Indian carriers fly to countries that have adopted the Convention, they have to insure for the liability limits set out in the Montreal Convention, even though (we) have not acceded to it,” minister of civil aviation Praful Patel said in Parliament. “If India does not adopt it, the passengers originating and terminating their journey in India (who are mostly Indian nationals) would be deprived of the benefits of enhanced liability.”

Until now, India had enforced only two instruments— the Warsaw Convention and the Hague protocol— that deal with the issue of compensations. The Warsaw system at present gives four choices of jurisdiction to the passenger for filing a claim. These are the place of issue of ticket, principle place of business of the carrier, the place of destination of the passenger and the place of domicile of the carrier. The Montreal Convention shall now add a fifth jurisdiction — which is the place of domicile of the passenger, provided the airline has a presence there. Hence, an Indian would be able to file claim in India even if the journey was undertaken abroad.

The Montreal Convention was adopted by ICAO in 1999 to enable unification of certain rules for international carriage by air. The convention has already been ratified by 86 countries, out of which 25 have direct air links with India. “In such a situation, non accession of the convention by India may give rise to a situation involving serious discrimination between the passengers of the same flight with regard to compensation. It is therefore necessary to accede to it,” Patel informed.