Bengaluru teen sues IndiGo for missing trip to Nasa, wins Rs 1.6 lakh relief

Achintya Dey


 


BENGALURU: A Bengaluru youngster who missed a dream trip to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States owing to ticketing complications has filed a consumer court complaint against IndiGo. The court has ordered the airline to pay the boy Rs 1.6 lakh in compensation and to return his ticket with interest for sabotaging his chance to visit the International Space Station.

Kevin Martin, a Munnekolala resident, had a big day on August 10, 2019, when he arrived at Chennai airport to join an IndiGo aircraft to Delhi, which was due to take off at 6.30 a.m. However, much to the surprise of the 18-year-old lad, IndiGo ground employees refused to allow him board despite the fact that he had a confirmed ticket, claiming that the flight was overbooked.

Martin, who topped the 2019 Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in Karnataka and finished second nationwide, won the trip to Nasa after winning a technothlon competition at IIT-Guwahati. He was supposed to take a Virgin Atlantic aircraft out of Delhi.

In Chennai, IndiGo employees gave him a boarding permit with a 'zero' in place of a seat number and informed him that the aircraft was overbooked. Martin sought to persuade the workers by displaying the Nasa invitation papers. He informed them that his planned trip to Baltimore in the United States was leaving the same afternoon and that he needed to get in New Delhi on time on his pre-booked flight from Chennai. However, the staff offered him an alternative trip in the afternoon or evening, but this would have meant missing Martin's subsequent travel to the United States. Unfortunately, the adolescent was not permitted to board the aircraft.

He went back to Bengaluru and filed a complaint with IndiGo. With the airline unable to provide a compelling response, Martin filed a complaint with the Bangalore 1st Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on December 17, 2019 against Inter Globe Aviation Limited, the airline's operators.

The Bengaluru youngster presented the case through his counsel, while the airline's counsel argued that the Bengaluru court had jurisdiction to hear the case and that the complaint withheld important details, such as the fact that a boarding card was granted to him but he failed to appear at the gate. The lawyer did concede, however, that the aircraft was completely filled and that no customer was prepared to give up a place for the minor, who also had a valid ticket. He was offered a seat on another aircraft at no additional cost, but he declined, and as per the guidelines, he was provided a complete refund for his ticket (Rs 8,605) and a compensation of Rs 20,000.

The judges of the consumer forum lambasted IndiGo for ruining the boy's lifetime goal of visiting Nasa due to the ticketing mess in legal hearings that lasted over 16 months. According to the report, the adolescent was a state champion and one of India's finest, excelling at an IIT tech contest and earning a trip to the prestigious US space agency. The forum remarked that the airline had overbooked in this case and was expecting another customer to give up his seat, resulting in injustice to the youngster, who was all prepared to travel the connecting flight to the United States, for which he came on time with a confirmed ticket.

The court ordered on April 3, 2021, that IndiGo must pay Kevin Martin Rs 1 lakh in compensation for missing the trip and Rs 50,000 in damages for causing him mental anguish by disturbing his plans. The court also ordered the airline to pay Rs 10,000 in legal fees and Rs 8,605 in interest for the return of his Delhi tickets. IndiGo did not respond to requests for comment on the judgement.