THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Indians facing harassment at US airports is
nothing new and the list of those who got a taste of US hospitality includes
former president Dr A P J
Abdul Kalam and actor Shah Rukh Khan.
An Indian has now won compensation from a US airline for collecting extra
charges at a US airport.
Following a
ruling from the district consumer court, Delta Airlines has paid a compensation
of Rs 42,000 for levying extra charges from three passengers from here who had
gone to attend a convention of Federation of Malayalee Associations of Americas
in July 2008.
"The
airline asked us to pay $70 for the second baggage though we can carry two bags
each. When it was questioned, airline officials said the extra fee was owing to
economic slowdown in the US. Hence me, my wife S Sreekala and friend Baby
Krishna had to pay up," said P Sreekumar, a journalist who had to face the
situation. They were allowed to carry two bags each from Mumbai to New York but
were asked to leave them at the airport if they were willing to pay the extra
charge when they were about to board a flight to Houston from there.
Though
Sreekumar had planned to visit California, Florida and New York and had booked
tickets in the airline for these journeys, he had to cut short his visit after
attending the convention. He had filed a complaint with the court, seeking a
compensation of Rs 10 lakh. "When the court sent a notice to the Delta
airline, they repaid the extra money charged from three of us. However, I
continued with the case as I considered it as an insult to the Indian
citizen,'' Sreekumar said.
The court
later ordered the airline to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 each and repay the
extra charged amount with interest.
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