Unhygienic, dirty, stained seat to passenger: Delhi consumer forum tells Indigo Airlines to pay ₹1.5 lakh compensation

A Delhi consumer forum has held Indigo Airlines guilty of deficiency of service for providing an unhygienic and stained seat to a woman and directed it to pay a compensation of ₹1.5 lakh for the discomfort, pain and mental agony she suffered.

The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, comprising its president Poonam Chaudhry and members Bariq Ahmed and Shekhar Chandra, was hearing a complaint filed by Pinki, alleging that she was provided an “unhygienic, dirty and stained” seat while she was travelling from Baku to New Delhi on January 2 this year.

Ms. Pinki alleged that her complaint regarding the issue was treated in a “dismissive and insensitive manner”.

Countering the claim, the airlines said that they took cognisance of the issue faced by Ms. Pinki and assigned her a different seat, on which she willingly travelled and completed her journey to New Delhi.

Noting the evidence before it, the forum, in an order dated July 9, made available recently, said, “We hold that the opposite party (Indigo) was guilty of deficiency in service.”

“As regards the discomfort and pain, mental agony suffered by her, we are of the view that she must be compensated. We accordingly direct the opposite party to pay ₹1.5 lakh as compensation for mental agony, physical pain and harassment to her,” the forum added.

It also directed payment of ₹25,000 as litigation expenses.

In its order, the forum said that the airlines had failed to produce the Situation Data Display (SDD) report, which formed a part of its internal operational records as per standard aviation protocols.

It said, “There is no reference to this report in the written statement or in the evidence filed by the opposite party. The SDD is a crucial document used for flight operation monitoring and to record passenger-related incidents. The absence of this document significantly weakens the opposite party’s defence.”