Mumbai: 48 hours on, no refund for sisters deboarded from Guwahati-bound flight by IndiGo

The Rithe sisters, who were forcefully disembarked from IndiGo flight 6E228 scheduled from Mumbai to Guwahati on January 16, find themselves at odds with IndiGo officials as conflicting statements regarding ticket refunds have emerged. The sisters had been disembarked by airline staff citing overbooking.

Despite IndiGo officials asserting that the amount for tickets had been refunded, Shravani and Srushti Rithe have vehemently denied receiving any reimbursement or compensation. They sent a formal email to Jyotiraditya M Scindia (minister of civil aviation) , the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday, disputing IndiGo's claims.

The disagreement sheds light on a broader issue surrounding accountability in the aviation industry, particularly in instances of involuntary deboarding. Passengers facing such situations rightfully expect transparent communication and swift resolution, raising questions about the accuracy of information provided by the airlines.Shravani and Srushti Rithe

The Rithes ordeal began when they were asked to disembark from the overboarded flight. Srushti - the older of the two - told mid-day, "I had booked the tickets using my debit card. If a refund would have been processed, I would have immediately gotten an intimation from the bank. The whole incident was very frustrating for us. It not only cost us our precious time but also made it impossible for us to reach the three-day workshop we were scheduled to reach on January 17."

She added, "I am aware of my rights and the DGCA guidelines, but what if someone unaware of his rights faces this situation? The person would be completely clueless about what to do and the airlines can take advantage. I was given an offer to take a flight to Kolkata and was asked to book another flight from there to Jorhat airport. What were we supposed to do at Kolkata airport and why would I pay for a flight from Kolkata to Jorhat if I had already booked a ticket from Mumbai? We had to go back to my residence in Pune from the Mumbai airport only because of the overboarding and IndiGo not being able to accommodate us on another flight." Shravani had written an email to the DGCA around 9 am, expressing their ordeal while they were stranded at the airport. However, they are yet to receive a reply after two days and no action has been initiated against IndiGo either.

According to Srushti, they were standing at gate no. 7 of the airport for over five hours. "Isn't it the responsibility of the airlines that their passengers not be left stranded this way? A woman official from IndiGo came and started blaming us when CISF officials asked her to help. I tried explaining her the situation but she disowned us saying ‘the girls came to see Aniket Jamse (another IndiGo official at Mumbai airport) so let him help them'. This was way too irresponsible from their end. Since the initial email was not answered, nor did we receive a refund or compensation, we have written an email to the officials of MoCA and DGCA."

The email written by Srushti to the civil aviation minister and other officials asking for stringent action against IndiGo and demanding a full refund, states, "I am Srushti Rithe, 23, an industrial engineer and a responsible citizen. I am writing this along with my sister Shravani, 18, who is a first-year engineering student. We both have faced horrifying experiences, great inconvenience and huge discomfort caused by IndiGo officials which we would never like to remember in our lifetime. This has resulted in us missing an important three-day workshop in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve for which we were travelling. We are still in trauma and there was a huge mental torture due to IndiGo staff."

The email also spoke of the financial loss faced by the sisters due to the deboarding. It described the seven hours of trauma and how the sisters were stranded at the Mumbai airport in detail. It also names IndiGo officials involved. "IndiGo officials Mr Tushar and his mate (don't remember the name exactly, but I guess it was Yogesh) announced that the boarding had started. Mr Tushar later told us that the flight had 186 seats and 188 people had boarded the aircraft. So due to overboarding, they are offloading us. This was around 7.40 am. I was at gate no 7 and I did not receive any help from IndiGo. From 7.40 am till 11.30 am I spoke to more than 10 IndiGo officials but got no help. Every officer asked me about the problem and I had to repeatedly explain to them the entire episode. After hearing me, every officer promised Help and went to enquire with the senior. Few also took our boarding passes to show Seniors."

Explaining the inconvenience caused, the email read, "Yesterday night, I also made a cancellation request for my return flight from Jorhat to Mumbai which was scheduled on January 20, 2024." Even 48 hours after the incident, IndiGo officials are not sure about the refund and compensation process. An official from IndiGo airlines said, "We don't have any data from the airport ground staff apart from the claims that refund was initiated for the tickets as of now [January 18, 4 pm]."

DGCA guidelines

The DGCA guidelines as per Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), Section 3, Series 'M', Part IV, suggest that "in case of a flight being overbooked, leading to involuntary deboarding of passengers, the passenger is entitled to compensation in case passenger does not opt for an alternate flight, refund of the full value of ticket and compensation equal to 400 per cent of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to a maximum of Rs 20,000."

07
No of hours sisters were made to wait at airport