Consumer Court slams Korean Airlines, Cleartrip; orders airfare refund, compensation for denying boarding to an Indian girl in Japan. (Part-1)

Gurugram, India: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Gurugram, has ruled in favor of an Indian passenger who was denied boarding by Korean Airlines when she reached the Narita Airport to board the flight in Japan on the pretext that she did not carry the Korean visa. The Japan-New Delhi transit flight was scheduled for a layover at Incheon airport in Korea. After a long wait of about 10 hours at the airport, she had to book a last-minute flight with Singapore Airlines at an exorbitant price of ₹108,984 to return to India.

The commission ordered Korean Airlines and online travel agency Cleartrip to jointly refund airfare along with 9% interest and pay ₹1 lakh in compensation for mental and physical harassment and ₹22,000 towards legal expenses.

In its reply in the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Gurugram, the Korean Airlines filed a 27-page submission stating that there was no deficiency of service from its end, and it was the Korean immigration authority that barred her entry to the Republic of Korea. No Cleartrip representative appeared in the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission to present its case.

However, later the airlines agreed to comply with the court order and offered the complainant to pay an amount of ₹ 200,495 including INR 100,000 as compensation.

The complaint was filed by Ms. Pridhi Nehra – a National Institute of Design (NID) graduate and a resident of Gurugram, who works as a Junior Communication Designer with a Bengaluru based company. She had visited Japan on a leisure trip on a Japan visa, and was scheduled to return to New Delhi. She also carried a valid Schengen visa for traveling to Europe.

The case, revolved around an incident on August 7, 2023, when she was scheduled to return to India from her Japan trip. She was scheduled to fly from Narita Airport, Japan to New Delhi via Incheon (South Korea) on a flight booked through Cleartrip. Upon reaching Narita Airport in Japan, she was barred from boarding the flight by Korean Airlines staff, citing the lack of a South Korean visa, despite official regulations stating that Indian passport holders do not require a visa for transit.

The Korean Airlines boarding staff allegedly told her that since a lot of Indians were migrating into Korea illegally, they could not let her board the flight. She said that the she staff did not bother to provide any further justification behind this statement.

Ordeal at Narita Airport: Pridhi, who was stranded at the Narita airport for over 10 hours, alleged that Korean Airlines staff refused to accommodate her or offer an alternative flight, leaving her without assistance or food. Since she was left alone in the foreign country with no money and nobody there to help her out, she had to contact her cousin in India at 4:30am (IST) to send her money to book another flight at a whopping cost. She eventually had to book a last-minute flight with Singapore Airlines at an exorbitant price of ₹108,984 to return to India. She also alleged that the Korean Airlines staff did not bother to offer her accommodation, refreshments or meal on humanitarian grounds during the waiting hours, and left her stranded and alone at the airport to cope up with the situation on her own.

Upon arrival in India, she contacted both Korean Airlines and Cleartrip for a refund. While she eventually received a refund of ₹40,177 for her original ticket, her repeated demands for compensation for the new flight and mental harassment went unanswered, leading her to file a case with the consumer commission on March 7, 2024.

Court’s Strong Criticism: The consumer court, presided over by Sanjeev Jindal, found Korean Airlines guilty of severe deficiency in service and labelled their conduct as “deplorable”. The court observed that Pridhi was left stranded in a foreign country without money, assistance, or support, causing her extreme mental and physical distress.

In a strongly worded verdict, the court noted that “such incidents cannot be overlooked, and exemplary costs must be imposed to prevent future recurrence.”

Verdict & Compensation: The commission ruled that Korean Airlines and Cleartrip were jointly and severally liable to refund ₹68,807 (amount spent on the new flight, after deducting the refunded ₹40,177) with 9% interest per annum, pay ₹100,000 as compensation for mental and physical harassment, and also pay ₹22,000 towards litigation costs. In her plea though, the complainant had sought a compensation of ₹10,00,000 in the consumer court.

The companies were given 45 days to comply with the order, failing which an additional 12% interest would be imposed. The court also warned that non-compliance could result in legal prosecution under Sections 71(1) and 72 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which could lead to fines or imprisonment.

Korean Airlines agrees to comply with the order: It was on March 4, a staffer of Korean Airlines contacted Pridhi over phone and offered to follow the consumer court orders and compensate her.

In an email communication dated 5^th March, the Korean Airlines wrote to Pridhi offering her to pay: ₹200,495 including ₹100,000 as compensation.

It stated, “In spite of providing critical evidence to the authority that there was no deficiency of service from our end, it was the Korean immigration authority that barred your entry to the Republic of Korea, and being a service provider, we have to comply with the order issued by the respective country’s regulatory authority.

It further stated, “As we failed to convince the authority, we still have the right to file an appeal with the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission within 45 days of the adverse order. However, considering the future legal cost, we decided not to contest the final order and are approaching you through this email to get your consent that you are accepting the order and no further appeal will be filed from your side against this order, even though you received a favorable order.”

The Korean Airlines staffer, wrote, “If you provide your consent on the final order, the final settlement amount payable to you will be as mentioned below, which will be payable through a demand draft, and the same will be available to collect from our office. We will notify you once the demand draft is ready.”

The ACN take on the incident: This ruling serves as a strong precedent for passenger rights in India and highlights airline accountability for unjustified denials of boarding. Consumer activists hailed the decision as a landmark judgment against arbitrary airline policies that inconvenience passengers.

For Pridhi, the verdict is a vindication of her ordeal. She expressed relief over the ruling, stating that “this fight was not just for me but for every Indian traveler who faces discrimination and mistreatment by airlines.”

With this ruling, airlines and travel agencies may now face increased scrutiny by the Indian authorities over their handling of passenger complaints and boarding policies.

To be continued……