Vistara overbooking row: Airline told to pay ₹1 lakh for denying boarding to judge with confirmed ticket

A Chhattisgarh consumer commission has directed Vistara Airlines to pay ₹1 lakh as compensation to an Additional District Judge who was denied boarding despite holding a confirmed ticket, ruling that the airline's conduct amounted to a deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice. The commission also awarded ₹10,000 towards litigation costs.

The case relates to Bhupendra Kumar Vasnikar, an Additional District Judge in Chhattisgarh, who was returning with his family from a vacation in Kashmir in May 2023. According to the complaint, Vasnikar had booked four confirmed Vistara tickets from Delhi to Raipur after flying back from Srinagar with a layover in the national capital.

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Judge left behind 

The complaint stated that Vasnikar and his family reached Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport nearly four hours before departure on May 28, 2023. However, despite reporting well in time, airline staff allegedly delayed issuing boarding passes for hours.

Eventually, the airline informed the family that only three passengers, Vasnikar's wife, son, and daughter, could board the flight, while the judge himself would be denied boarding due to overbooking. Left with no option, he allowed his family to travel to Raipur alone while he remained stranded in Delhi overnight.

The following day, Vasnikar purchased a fresh IndiGo ticket worth ₹18,823 to return home and also incurred additional expenses on accommodation, food and local transport.

Observation of commission 

The Chhattisgarh consumer commission, comprising President Prashant Kundu and Member Anand Varghese, noted that the airline failed to explain why a passenger with a confirmed ticket was denied boarding.

"It was undisputed that, after being denied boarding on the airline's flight, the complainant had to send his family alone from Delhi to Raipur while he was forced to remain in Delhi for an additional day," the commission observed.

The order further noted that the ticket purchased by Vasnikar for ₹7,204 was allegedly resold to another passenger for ₹40,000, without informing him. The bench remarked that Vistara remained silent on why it failed to provide him with a seat despite his confirmed booking, giving rise to an inference that the seat may have been resold at a higher price.

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Airline defence

In its defence, Vistara argued that overbooking is a recognised practice in the aviation industry under Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines. The airline maintained that it attempted to arrange an alternative flight, but none was available, and therefore refunded four times the ticket fare in accordance with DGCA norms.

However, the commission found this explanation unconvincing, noting that Vasnikar successfully booked another flight the very next day at his own expense.

"Merely refunding four times the ticket fare was not sufficient compensation," the commission held, adding that denying boarding to a passenger with a confirmed ticket caused avoidable mental, physical and financial hardship. It directed Vistara to pay ₹1 lakh as compensation and ₹10,000 as litigation costs within 45 days.