Sold His Confirmed Ticket In Rs 40,000: Chhattisgarh Judge Awarded Rs 1 Lakh After Airline Swaps His Ticket

The Chhattisgarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has imposed a fine of Rs 1.10 lakh on Vistara Airlines after it sold a judge's confirmed ticket to another person for Rs 40,000. The affected person has been identified as Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ) Bhupendra Kumar Vasnikar, and he would be paid the aforementioned amount as compensation for the inconvenience. The commission further provided a period of 45 days to pay the compensation amount. If the airline fails to pay the money within the stipulated time, it will have to pay seven per cent annual interest on the amount.

How did the tickets get swapped?

Vasnikar booked four tickets on a Vistara flight, after paying an amount of Rs 23,156, on May 9, 2023. The judge was scheduled to fly from Delhi to Raipur on May 28, 2023, after spending a vacation with his family. The ADJ posted in Kankar arrived at the airport four hours before the scheduled flight timing.

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Despite this, Vistara employees refused to issue him with a boarding pass for three hours. At last, an hour before the flight, the judge's confirmed ticket was cancelled, citing overbooking, and only his wife, son, and daughter were sent to Raipur. The ADJ was forced to stay in Delhi and returned to Raipur the next day by purchasing an Indigo Airlines ticket for Rs 18,823.

What did the court say?

During the hearing, the bench comprising Chairman Prashant Kundu and Member Anand Varghese slammed the airline's conduct. The Commission found that the judge's ticket, purchased on May 9th for Rs 7,204, was sold by the airline to another passenger on May 28th for Rs 40,000.

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To its defense, Vistara claimed at that time no alternative flights were available and therefore refunded four times the fare. The Commission rejected this claim, noting that the judge himself booked an IndiGo flight the next day and traveled, clearly demonstrating the existence of alternatives.