Overbooking is illegal

Can a passenger holding a confirmed ticket for an international flight be bumped off on account of overbooking, a routine practice follow...

Can a passenger holding a confirmed ticket for an international flight be bumped off on account of overbooking, a routine practice followed by many international air carriers? Can such a passenger be compelled to agree to alternate travel arrangements for his journey which are disadvantageous to him? Is he entitled to compensation?

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Union Territory, Chandigarh, recently ruled that if a passenger holding a confirmed ticket is denied passage on a specified flight, he is entitled to compensation. Dr Charanjit Singh Bahniwal, the complainant, possessed a confirmed ticket for the flight from New Delhi to Chicago for the night of 26th and 27th February 1995, but in reality on account of over-booking he was not provided the promised flight. He ultimately took an alternative flight and in respect of the return journey the original facilities were not adhered to. The complainant could avail the original ticket for a period of six months and it could even be furtherextended for another six months. The alternative ticket arranged for him was valid only for a period of 45 days.

The District Forum, Chandigarh, ordered on March 20, 1997, that the complainant was entitled to 807 in the form of rupees which he spent on the return journey. It also ordered that a sum of Rs 10,000/- was payable as compensation. Aggrieved against it, the airline appealed against the order to the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Union Territory, Chandigarh. It is an admitted fact that when the complainant reported at New Delhi airport he was not provided accomodation despite the okayed ticket8217;. However, it appears that the appellants did help in arranging some other flight through a different airline from New Delhi to Chicago. All this necessitated the stay of the passenger for the entire night at New Delhi airport. Thus total breach of agreement at the time of the onward flight has been established. The contention raised on behalf of the airline that extra booking is a matter ofroutine has no merit, on the contrary such practices must be deprecated.

Besides the inconvenience, the passenger was not provided a ticket containing original facility that it was to remain valid for a period of six months for the return journey. It is not disputed that the alternative ticket was valid only for 45 days. This obviously necessitated the purchase of a return ticket afresh on which the passenger spent 807.

The Commission referred to an important part of the judgement of the District Forum reproduced as under:

The Managers of the International Airlines have no right to issue OK tickets to their passengers and then leave them high and dry at the Airport by telling them that no seat is available since the flight is already over-booked. Not much imagination is needed to conjure up the embarassment of a passenger holding a confirmed ticket when he is not allowed to emplane the flight for which he was booked.

The Commission concludes that the allegations of the complainant were wellestablished. When a passenger is in such a difficult situation, he scarcely has means to assert and verify the conditions which are written of the alternative ticket thrust on him. The contention raised on behalf of the appellant that the facility of the return journey remained available so far as the airline is concerned, has no merit.

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8220;We hold that the passenger was rightly entitled to claim the price of the new return ticket as ordered by the District Forum together with the compensation of Rs 10,000 which does not call for reduction in the circumstances of the case. The conclusion is that the appeal is dismissed with costs of Rs 10,000/-8221;.

The author is a freelance writer