The Chandigarh state consumer commission ruled that timely communication of changes in departure time is a fundamental obligation of an airline and on this ground awarded Rs 50,000 compensation to the passengers who were left stranded in an international airport as the flight left earlier than its scheduled time. The consumer commission also ordered the airline to refund the ticket price.
This judgement came against the background of an incident which happened when two friends from Sector 38, Chandigarh went to Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia by purchasing return tickets from an Indian airline. On April 2, 2024 when they reached Denpasar Airport, Bali for their return journey, they discovered that their scheduled flight had been preponed without any prior intimation.
