Mumbai: A single burger and fries were clearly inadequate for a 14-hour flight delay. Pointing this out, a district consumer commission has ordered SpiceJet Ltd to pay Rs 50,000 in compensation for “expenses incurred and mental agony” to a Mulund resident and an additional Rs 5,000 to cover legal costs.“Adequate arrangements of meals, refreshments and water, and providing necessary relaxing area are… required in said scenario. Further, travellers must be kept well-informed of the delay,” the commission said, holding that by failing to do so, SpiceJet was found to be negligent and deficient in its service. “In a nutshell, if airlines take the defence that they took all reasonable steps, then it is to be proved and supported with flight logs, notices and communication. But in the present case, it merely relied on the provisions of CAR (Civil Aviation Requirements) and the Carriage by Air Act (CAA). The airlines failed to bring on record anything that can support its claim that there is no deficiency in service,” the commission said.The complaint was filed last year by Dinesh Hemrajani, who booked Dubai-Mumbai flight SG 60 on July 27, 2024. Scheduled to depart at 4pm, it took off at 6.10 am the next morning. Hemrajani’s complaint was SpiceJet failed to provide essential services to the stranded passengers. He said that barring a single serving of a burger and fries, no other meals or hotel accommodation was provided, in “direct violation of civil aviation and DGCA guidelines”.The airline’s defence was that all passengers are bound by the terms of carriage outlined in the e-ticket and the delay was due to “operational and technical reasons”. SpiceJet cited clauses from CAR and CAA, which state that airlines are not liable for delays caused by circumstances beyond their control. The commission noted that the airline failed to provide evidence that it took all necessary measures to assist passengers during the waiting period. —Rebecca Samervel
