NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government has enhanced the compensation that airlines must pay passengers in case of lost baggage or suffering an injury while travelling with them.
If a person dies or suffers bodily injury in an air crash or some other aviation-related accident, the compensation payabale to the family is now Rs 90 lakh, up from Rs 75 lakh earlier.
In case of inordinate flight delays, the compensation could now be as high as Rs 3.5 lakh, up from Rs 3 lakh earlier. The maximum compensation for lost baggage has now been upped to about Rs 84,000 from Rs 74,000 earlier.
The enhanced compensation comes with the Cabinet on Tuesday amending the Air Carriage Act that deals with issues like damages to be paid for flight delays, loss of baggage and accidental death. Indian carriers will now pay as their international counterparts, in line with the 1999 Montreal Convention that governs airline liability and compensation.
These compensations are based on something called special drawing rights (SDR), with each SDR worth $1.2.
In India, SDRs are converted into Indian rupees depending on the exchange rate at the time of payment. Damage in case of death or bodily injury for each person has been upped from a lakh SDR to 1,13,100 SDR. The liability in case of destruction, loss or delay of cargo has been raised from 17 SDR (Rs 1,265) to 19 SDR (Rs 1,400).
The change came as International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) calculated that inflation had risen by over 10% – the trigger for a recalculation. In India, the change came with the Cabinet clearing an amendment to the Carriage by Air Act by inserting a new provision enabling the government to revise the limits of liability as and when the revised limits are notified by the ICAO. India had signed the Montreal Convention in May 2009. Also, the Convention stipulates that the compensation figures must be revised every five years.
