Man denied boarding on Belgrade-Delhi flight despite valid ticket, wins Rs 67,786

Haryana’s Kapurthala District Consumer Commission directed MakeMyTrip and Emirates to reimburse Rs 47,786 for the alternate ticket and pay Rs 20,000 as compensation and litigation costs to a passenger after he was denied boarding with a valid return ticket from Belgrade to Delhi due to the suspension of his ticket without notice.

Dealing with a plea of a man, a bench of president Rajesh Bhatia and members S Kanwar Jaswant Singh and Rajita Sareen noted that in the Emirates’ written statement, it has been established that the airline had suspended the return ticket of the complainant without any solid reason.

“It has also been established that all the opposite parties had full knowledge about the suspension of the return ticket of the complainant, but neither of the opposite parties provided any information to the complainant regarding the same. After going through the written statements filed by the opposite parties, we have observed that the opposite parties want to shift the burden of deficiency on each other,” the commission said on June 5.

The bench added that the complainant again purchased the return ticket for his return journey, as Emirates had not allowed the complainant to travel on their airline, although the complainant had a valid travel ticket for his journey.

Denied boarding at Belgrade airport

The complainant booked his flight ticket from Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, to Dubai International Airport for a September 23, 2022 departure time of the flight was 16.15 hours, and arrival time was 18:10 hours on September 23, 2022.

The connected flight to the destination was with Emirates to 6 from Dubai International Airport to Nikola Tesla Airport, Belgrade. Departure time of the said flight was 9.05 hours on September 24, 2022, and arrival time was 13.00 hours on September 24, 2022.

The complainant booked the return flight ticket also from Make My Trip India Pvt Ltd to 6 from Belgrade Airport to Delhi Airport with a connected flight having a stay at Dubai International Airport. As per the ticket, the flight of the complainant bearing had to depart at 23.55 hours on September 28, 2022, from Nekola Tela Airport, Belgrade, and its arrival time to Dubai International Airport was 7.05 hours on September 29, 2022.

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The connecting flight from Dubai to Delhi was to fly on September 29, 2022, at 15.25 hours, and the same had to reach Indira Gandhi International Airport at 20.20 hours on the same day. The complainant had paid an amount of Rs 69,204 for the booking of air tickets for the trip.

After completion of the trip, the complainant was to reach India on September 28, 2022, and he was present at Nekola Tesla Airport, Belgrade, at the relevant time for boarding, but the complainant was surprised to see that the boarding counter refused to allow him to board, citing that his ticket was not reflected in their list.

Left stranded in known city

The complainant claimed that he had to face many hardships as he was a novice to the city, and he was not aware of anything. There was no one to guide the complainant, nor was he assisted by anyone from the site of Make My Trip. The only hope for the complainant was the inquiry counter, which was not open at the relevant time.

He alleged that he sent emails to Make My Trip to inquire about the matter and to bring to light the reason for the cancellation of his ticket, but none of the parties had given any response to the complainant.

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Left with no other alternative, he booked another ticket with a connected flight from Belgrade to Doha and Doha to New Delhi International Airport by paying Rs 47,786 for his arrival Not only this, the train booked by the complainant had also been missed to reach his village and the complainant had to hire a taxi for reaching his house and on this he has spent Rs 10,000 from his own pocket.

Misrepresenting, distorting facts: Make My Trip

Make My Trip filed a written submission through advocate Darshan Singh and contested the complaint by taking preliminary objections that the complainant has not approached this commission with clean hands and with bona fide intention, and an attempt has been made to gain undue advantage by misrepresenting and distorting the material facts and circumstances.

It was submitted that the present complaint is nothing but a sheer attempt to abuse the process of law by filing a complaint which is totally frivolous and misconceived and therefore liable to be dismissed with high costs.

It was argued that the answering opposite parties merely act as a facilitator/intermediary for the booking of the confirmed hotel bookings on behalf of its customers with the concerned service providers.

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Airline cites fraud risks

Emirates also filed a written submission through advocate Rajat Nanda and submitted complainant has stated that he “booked a trip to Belgrade to expand his business and in search of new technology regarding electronics,” thereby evidencing that the purpose of the trip was commercial.

It was submitted that the Complainant cannot claim to be a consumer under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and hence, the present complaint is liable to be dismissed on this ground alone.

It was stated that the return ticket of the complainant was suspended to avoid unrecovered COD charges (collection on delivery). It was stated that there have been several instances of passengers travelling from India to Belgrade on the flights of the Emirates and not returning on the return tickets booked by them.

It was further argued that this is usually done with the connivance of the travel agent who voids the return sector after the passenger has landed in Belgrade. In such cases, the passengers, if caught by the authorities in Belgrade, use the excuse of nonavailability of the return ticket for their overstay, exposing the Emirates to exorbitant fines.

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It stated that there have also been instances of the travel agent voiding return tickets after takeoff, and the passenger, on landing at Belgrade, is refused entry by immigration, exposing the Emirates to the expense of ferrying back the inadmissible passenger to India by issuing COD tickets for which the passenger is required to pay on arrival at the destination, which most passengers refuse to pay.

Thus, as a precautionary measure to save itself from the risk of penalties and deportation costs, the airlines, in case of passengers travelling to Belgrade, after the passenger has landed in Belgrade, suspend the return ticket so that the travel agent cannot void it.