Bengalurean sues airline & portal for delay in flight, wins Rs 1.5 lakh

BENGALURU: A 77-year-old Bengalurean recently won a court battle after his plan to travel for an African holiday with his daughter's family was spoiled by a flight delay.
Citing service deficiency, a consumer court ordered the travel booking portal, MakeMyTrip, and Air India to pay him a compensation of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10,000 for litigation expenses and refund Rs 38,000 towards his and wife's airfare.
In September 2019, Ramabhadran and his wife from Kuvempu Nagar Road, off Kanakapura Road, planned a forest trip in Kilimanjaro with their daughter and grandchildren. He booked their return tickets worth Rs 92,210 through MakeMyTrip on Air India from Bengaluru to Delhi and on Ethiopian Airlines from Delhi to Kilimanjaro.
On December 19, 2019, the couple reached Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) only to find that their Air India flight had been delayed. With a nearly two-hour delay in take-off, the couple missed their connecting flight from Delhi to Kilimanjaro.
Ramabhadran claimed Air India ground staff in Delhi didn't show any concern towards them despite them being senior citizens. They failed to offer even a cup of coffee and didn't help them in finding another flight to continue the trip. Finally, their daughter from overseas booked two business class tickets for them on Ethiopian Airlines for December 21, 2019 by spending Rs 4.7 lakh, and the two joined them in Tanzania two days later.
Returning to Bengaluru after the holiday, Ramabhadran contacted MakeMyTrip for refund of the tickets for the missed flight. Despite multiple requests, the portal representatives didn't issue a refund. He then sent a legal notice to MakeMy Trip and Air India on March 27, 2021 and sued them in Bangalore Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. Ramabhadran's lawyer presented his case, while the attorney representing the travel portal stated that they are only a ticket booking facilitation platform and it had approached Air India on the case but were yet to receive a response. Air India failed to appear and was declared as exparte by the court.
On April 13, 2023, the court noted that MakeMy Trip and Air India were at fault as they had failed to address the grievances of the senior citizen. Both the parties must jointly pay the amount within 30 days from the order.