SC stays consumer court's order against Air India

Air India on Thursday got reprieve from the Supreme Court which stayed a consumer court's order that asked the state-owned airline to publicise information relating to passenger interest, including those about flight delays and refreshments.

A Bench headed by Justice BN Agarwal, while staying the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission's interim order, sought reply from passengers Ajay Kalia and others on whose complaint directions were passed against Air India (now NACIL).

The Commission in its interim orders dated July 23 and August 22, 2008 and February 20, this year had asked the airline to publicise and implement the regulations in the
'Manual for Passenger Service,' According to the orders, the manual which is beneficial for the public at large, should be put up at prominent places at every airport in the country from where the airline operated and also publish a summary of the regulations in one or two paragraphs in a leading English daily within a period of three weeks.

Challenging the Commission's jurisdiction to pass such orders, Air India sought SC's intervention in deciding whether the manual, which is an internal guideline for ensuring that its staff work together as a well-knit cohesive team in their endeavour to provide safe and comfortable travel to passengers, was a public document. 

"It is a well-settled proposition of law that internal guidelines have no statutory force and have no binding effect whatsoever," Air India said in its petition.

The petition further said displaying internal guideline would present a wrong picture and "would open a floodgate of unwarranted demands by the consumer, claiming the same to be their right, where it is a matter of contract".

According to Air India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the regulatory authority, was for the first time bringing a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on such facilities and would indicate certain mandatory and recommendatory procedures for passenger handling.

Thus, any such move to display any regulations should only be finalised after the directorate issued CAR to all the operators, the petition filed through Subramonium Prasad added. Air India senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi submitted that under Section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986, the Commission or any other forum did not have power to pass interim relief without satisfying that the goods complained against suffered from any defects or till any allegations about the services in the complaint were proved.

Passengers Kalia and his family had boarded an Air India flight from Dubai to Delhi on January 2, this year. However, when the family reached Dubai airport they found that the flight was delayed by three hours due to dense fog.