Syrian Arab Airlines, the flag carrier of Syria, has been directed by a consumer forum here to pay Rs 15,000 as compensation to one of its passengers for the damages to her baggage during transit.
The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum asked the airlines to pay damages to Pitampura resident Suraj Sharma after holding it responsible for the loss suffered by the woman.
“In our considered view, opposite party (airline) alone is responsible for the loss, as complainant (Sharma) is not aware of parties to whom the baggage is delivered by the airline for handling. It is supposed to compensate for the damage to bag, while it is in transit, before delivery to her”. “We order compensation of Rs 10,000 for the damages and harassment to complainant. In addition, we allow Rs 5,000 as litigation expenses,” the bench presided by C K Chaturvedi said.
In her complaint, Sharma had said she had travelled with the Syrian airline from Delhi to London in August 2004. She had alleged on arriving at London she found that her bag had been torn open from top and some of her valuables like mobile phone and some jewellery were missing.
The Syrian airline, in its reply to her complaint, had disowned responsibility for the loss suffered by her, saying that the baggage was handled by Air France at London Airport.
