New Delhi: Soon airlines will have to shell out more in terms of compensation to flyers. Parliament on Friday cleared a bill providing for enhanced compensation to passengers in case of baggage loss, delay in flights, injury and death. Once the bill is approved by the President, airlines will have to pay compensation of more than Rs one crore in case of death or bodily injury.
It would allow the government to revise the liability limits of airlines in line with the Montreal Convention, which was acceded to by India in May 2009. Among others, the compensation for death in an air accident and the amount would be calculated on the basis of SDR (Special Drawing Rights).
The currency value of the SDR is based on market exchange rates of a basket of major currencies - US dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen and Pound Sterling.
The bill was passed in Lok Sabha in December 2015 and by the Rajya Sabha with certain amendments on March 2. The bill, along with the amendments, came back to the Lok Sabha and was adopted by a voice vote.
Earlier in March, while piloting the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapthi Raju had said it would bring legislative character to international character with respect to compensation for air passengers.
According to the Bill, the liability for delay in carriage for each person was proposed to be raised from 4,150 SDR to 4,694 SDR, while the liability in case of destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage is proposed to be raised from 1,000 SDR to 1,131 SDR.
The liability in case of destruction, loss or delay in relation to the carriage of cargo has been raised from 17 SDR to 19 SDR. The liability limits are revised once every five years by the UN body International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on the basis of a determined inflation factor of 13.1%, triggering an adjustment in the limits.
However, former director-general DGCA Kanu Gohain fears that the order may have a cascading effect on the flyers. "The airlines could pass on the burden to comsumers by increasing the airfare which the government will have to look at," he said adding that the decision is a positive way forward.
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