Air India fined Rs.1 lakh after passenger found strand of hair in meal

Image courtesy: Twitter.com

Now here’s a compensation to be jealous of, but only if you stand for your rights. Air India passenger Malti Madhukar Pahade did just that.

Malti, who was traveling from Mumbai to New York in an Air India flight, filed a complaint that she was served stale food and that her meal also had a strand of hair. A bench of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, on hearing her plea, decided to award her a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh, and slapped the airlines with a fine of this amount citing that such an in-flight meal could have affected the health of passengers.

Image courtesy: Twitter.com
Image courtesy: Twitter.com

Initially, the district forum had asked Air India to cough up a fine of Rs. 15,000, which was then revised by the Maharashtra State Consumer Commission to Rs. 1 lakh, stating that Malti could have gone without food during the duration of the flight.

Air India also opposed this decision with the apex court arguing that the humongous amount of compensation was not in proportion with the negligence in service as the passenger has stated. The apex court turned down their appeal saying that a reputed airlines like Air India is expected to serve food fit for human consumption alongwith the best service.

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