The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Amritsar directed a major commercial airline to pay ₹1.06 lakh in compensation and statutory refunds to a passenger whose international flight was cancelled during pandemic travel restrictions. The consumer forum held that forcing passengers to accept restrictive credit travel shells instead of remitting monetary bank refunds constitutes an unfair trade practice and a gross deficiency in service.
The complainant had booked multiple round-trip tickets between Amritsar and London, which were cancelled by the carrier due to border closures. Despite repeated written representations and Supreme Court directives mandating prompt monetary refunds for pandemic cancellations, the carrier delayed payments for over three years, citing administrative backlog.
The commission ordered the airline to refund the ticket principal amount of ₹86,000 along with nine percent annual interest from the date of booking cancellation, plus ₹20,000 for mental agony and litigation expenses. Consumer rights advocates hailed the judgment, noting that statutory consumer forums remain indispensable safeguards for passenger rights against corporate arbitrariness.
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Sources:
https://indianexpress.com/article/education/today-news-headlines-for-school-assembly-08-october-2026-delhi-andhra-announces-drought-across-21-district-cabinet-approves-rs-10000-crore-sme-fund-10910892/