Two Nepali men, who had flown in to India from Nepal in an Air India flight, have slapped a legal notice to the national carrier accusing it of causing ‘mental harassment’ to them.
The duo, who came to India to take part in a global economic summit, has demanded a compensation of Rs 90,600 from the airline for ‘poor service’.
The duo- Chabbi Guadel and Lekh Bahadur Tamang- had travelled to New Delhi from Kathmandu on November 17 and were expected to reach at 4:15 pm.
The flight was delayed and they reached the national capital at 6 pm, which created disruptions in their next Air India flight to Pune which was scheduled at 7 pm.
They missed their flight to Pune due to the delay of the previous flight.
“We tried all means to convince the ground staff and allow us to board the flight to Pune or arrange an alternative flight. The authorities turned down our requests,” the Mirror reported quoting them.
The next flight they booked was at midnight and it left Delhi at 1 am, which made them reach the Global Sanitation Economy Summit in Pune at the nick of time.
“By this legal notice you are hereby called upon to express your apology for delaying the flight, which resulted in huge economic losses,” the notice sent to Air India read.
“You are liable to pay your client, a sum of Rs 30,600 for unnecessary booking another flight by IndiGo and for spending Rs 10,000 at a hotel in Delhi,” it added.
“We were in a distressed situation after we landed at the New Delhi international airport as we were late by one-and-a-half-hour,” Guadel told Mirror.
“To be on a safer side, we booked a connecting flight from Delhi to Pune, which was almost two-and-a-half hours later around 7 pm,” he added.
“Our previous flight from Kathmandu, Nepal, was supposed to reach Delhi at 4.15 pm, which landed at 6 pm due to some technical issues,” he added.
“Though the immigration officials were very co-operative and helped us to get done with the procedure swiftly, we couldn’t make it to the flight within 45 minutes before the boarding procedure was completed,” Guadel said.
“Please note that the services hired or availed of or agreed to by our clients suffer from a deficiency,” the notice added.
“So you are hereby intimated that compensate this actual loss of Rs 40,600 and a sum of Rs 50,000 for mental agony and the cost of the legal notice,” it reiterated.
If you fail to respond to this legal notice within 15 days, our clients will initiate legal proceeding against you in any appropriate forum, including consumer court or any other court in Nepal under the provisions of Consumer Protection Act, 2054 and 2075,” the notice further stated.
Air India authorities when were contacted by Mirror for comments, they denied giving any statement and said, “The matter is sub-judice.”