SC Asks Indian Railways to Pay Compensation to Passengers who Missed Flight Because of a Train Delay

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a statement on a plea filed by the Union government against an order of the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) granting compensation of Rs 40,000 to the passengers who missed their flight due to delayed arrival of trains. A Bench of JusticeKM Joseph and Justice Ravindra Bhat issued the notice stating that Indian Railways (IR) could have estimated the long-haul delay and communicated the same to the passengers.

The Apex Court affirmed the NCDRC’s order to upheld the compensation awarded by the District Forum and deemed negligence and deficiency in service on part of the railways. The statement reads, “We make it clear that we are not stopping the execution of the order.”

The court in its official statement said that the petitioners will deposit a sum of ₹25,000 with the registry within a period of four weeks from today i.e, August 9. The amount shall be deposited in an interest bearing fixed deposit account in a nationalized bank for a short term period with auto-renewal facility.

The respondents Ramesh Chandra and Kanchan Chandra had boarded the Prayagraj Express to New Delhi, which was scheduled to reach the destination at 6.50 am on April 12, 2008.However, the arrival time was delayed by around 5 hours and they reached Delhi at 11.30 am. The respondents missed their flight to Kochi due to late arrival and hence, they moved to the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission seeking compensation of Rs 19 lakh for mental harassment and agony.

The District Commission directed Indian Railways to pay Rs 40,000 to the respondents and it was also upheld by the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Lucknow, as well as NCDRC. The NCDRC, on October 21, 2020, dismissed the claim of the IR and said that they could have estimated the delay and informed the passengers including the respondent about the same and hence “this constituted negligence and deficiency in service”.

The ministry of railway later challenged the NCDRC’s order and filed the present appeal before the top court. While the top court agreed to examine the plea, they refused to stay the order.

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