Denied boarding despite being on time? This is the compensation you need to ask for!
Denied boarding despite being on time? This is the compensation you need to ask for!
Airlines to escape out from the fear of empty seats, compensate for cancelled flights or no show passengers often ends up with the practice called “overbooking”. There are also recorded cases where passengers despite reaching on time were denied boarding. On looking upon the 2017-18 data, around 28,000 passengers were found the victim of denied boarding.
What happens is, in order to depart without unoccupied or empty seats, airlines overbook the seats – more than the actual capacity of the aircraft. In this practice, many innocent passengers who left home on time to catch up their flight fall victim of such denial. The Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) chalks out the provisions & compensation amount for passenger who were denied boarding out of nowhere.
So what does denied boarding in legal & official term means?
The Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) holds various sections & parts regarding airline duties & passenger rights. The section-3, Series-M, Part-IV of the CAR entails all the facilities to be provided by airlines in case of situations like denied boarding, delayed flights & cancelled flights.
“As per these requirements & rules – denied boarding is the refusal to carry a passenger holding confirmed ticket on a flight although he/she has presented himself/herself for boarding within the time specified by the airline, except where there are reasonable grounds to refuse carriages such as reasons of health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documentation.”
This is what air passengers need to do when they are subjected to denied boarding-
As per the CAR & its rules, first passengers are asked to voluntarily give up their seats for other passengers but in an exchange of some facility or benefits provided by the airlines.
After voluntarily asking, if airlines compel passengers to denied boarding against their will, the airlines are liable to pay out compensation. However, if airlines manage to arrange an alternative flight that too within an hour time, need not pay any compensation but if they fail to do so – they are liable to reimburse the following compensation.
a) In case, the airline arranges alternate flight within 24 hours booked schedule departure, the compensation will be equal to 200% of booked one-way basic fare plus fuel surcharge but subjected to maximum 10,000.
b) In case, the airline arranges alternate flight more than 24 hours of the booked scheduled departure, the compensation will be equal to 400% of booked one-way basic fare plus fuel surcharge but subjected to maximum 20,000.
c) When passenger waves off the alternate flight, he is liable to get a full refund of ticket value and the compensation equal to 400% of booked one-way fare plus airline fuel surcharge but subjected to maximum 20,000.
Statistical data of passengers who were denied boarding in 2017-18
More than 28,000 passengers fell prey to denied boarding in the year 2017-18 – claimed by DGCA data and they were paid Rs 24.53 crore as compensation sum.
More than 70% of passengers who were denied boarding were of airline brand Jet Airways. Air India reported 9% of such denial & Spicejet with 19%. These three airline brands resulted in 99% of passengers who were denied boarding the aircraft.
About us!
refundme.in is an Indian based flight compensation provider, introducing air passengers with their legal rights, fighting for the claims of scenarios like cancelled, denied & delayed flights. That too with the power of automation & effective database from the airlines to help passengers rejoice the speedy recovery process & sum straight to their bank account.
Are you a victim of such a situation or know someone who is? Reach out to us & our team will be happy to assist you!