Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been ordered by an Indian consumer protection council to compensate a businessman 35,000 rupees (S$735) for downgrading his ticket from business class to economy without prior notice.
According to a report in New Indian Express, the businessman, Mr GVK Reddy, had flown on flight SQ528 from Singapore to Chennai on Apr 19, 2011. However, he was told at the check-in counter that his business-class seat had been downgraded to economy class. As compensation, the airline gave him a S$600 voucher – the difference in the classes’ ticket price.
Mr Reddy protested but had no choice but to take the seat offered by the airline, the report said. He later filed a legal notice with the airline seeking compensation of more than S$104,000 for costs including damages, deficiency of service, and causing him mental agony and pain.
In a written reply, SIA argued that Mr Reddy was the last person to make a booking for a business class seat and was also the last to arrive for check-in, by which time, the business-class tickets were overbooked. The ticket conditions also make it clear to passengers that they may not be able to travel in their chosen class due to overbooking, the report quoted the airline as saying.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum of South Chennai noted that the downgrade, without prior notification, “clearly amounted to a deficiency in service”, the report said.
It ordered SIA to pay the customer 30,000 rupees (S$630) as compensation for mental agony and hardship, and to pay 5,000 rupees (S$105) for the cost of the proceedings within six weeks, the report said.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
