Senior Citizen Kept In Shuttle Without Food Or Water: Delhi Consumer Commission Holds Alliance Air Liable
Pranav B Prem
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, South Delhi, comprising Monika A. Srivastava (President) and Kiran Kaushal (Member), has held Alliance Air Aviation Limited liable for deficiency in service and directed it to pay ₹1 lakh to a senior citizen passenger who was made to wait for over two hours in an airport shuttle bus without basic amenities and was not provided pre-booked meals.
The complaint was filed by Smt. Shashi Singhai, who had booked an economy class ticket with meals from New Delhi to Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, for 18 December 2021. The flight was scheduled to depart at 9:50 AM. Due to delay, the airline withdrew the original boarding pass and issued a fresh boarding pass reflecting a revised departure time of 11:15 AM.
According to the complainant, after boarding the aircraft, an announcement was made regarding a technical fault. All passengers were de-boarded and made to wait in the carrier bus or airport shuttle for more than two hours without any arrangement for drinking water or access to public facilities. The complainant, being a senior citizen and diabetic, stated that she faced tremendous difficulty during this period.
The flight eventually departed around 1:30 PM. Though originally scheduled via Allahabad to Bilaspur, passengers were later informed that the flight would be diverted to Raipur due to bad weather. The complainant alleged that despite having pre-booked meals, neither food nor refreshments were served during the journey, and water was provided only upon request. The flight landed at Raipur around 6:00 PM. She received no assistance from the airline and hired a taxi to Bilaspur at a cost of ₹1,700, having remained without food throughout the day.
Initially, Air India Ltd. was impleaded as a party. However, it was clarified that the flight was operated by Alliance Air Aviation Limited, a separate public sector entity. The Commission allowed deletion of Air India and impleaded Alliance Air as the opposite party.
Alliance Air contended that the delay was due to engineering constraints beyond its control and that the diversion to Raipur was necessitated by bad weather at Bilaspur. It also argued that the shuttle bus was not owned or directly controlled by the airline and relied upon the DGCA CAR “M” and its General Terms and Conditions to submit that it was not liable for delays or diversions arising out of extraordinary circumstances.
The Commission first held that it had territorial jurisdiction, noting that the complainant resided within its jurisdiction. It observed that there was no denial by the airline that passengers were made to wait in the shuttle for more than two hours. The Commission noted that even assuming there was engineering trouble in the aircraft, passengers could have been accommodated inside the airport and provided access to washrooms and basic refreshments. Instead, they were “held captive in the shuttle” without refreshment or access to public facilities.
The Commission further observed that the airline had not placed on record any document to substantiate its claim that the flight was diverted due to bad weather at Bilaspur. It also noted that there was no denial regarding the failure to provide the complainant’s pre-booked meal.
Holding that the airline had been highly deficient in providing services to the complainant, particularly considering that she was a senior citizen who had to spend the entire day without food despite having booked a meal, the Commission allowed the complaint. Alliance Air Aviation Limited was directed to pay ₹1,00,000 to the complainant within three months from the date of the order, failing which the amount would carry interest at 5% per annum until realisation.
Cause Title: Smt. Shashi Singhai vs Alliance Air Aviation Limited
Case No.: DC/83/CC/144/2022
Coram: Monika A. Srivastava (President) and Kiran Kaushal (Member)
