Dutch Airlines pulled up for lost baggage of Indian passenger

International air carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which lost an Indian passenger's baggage in 1993, has been found guilty of "deficiency in service" by the Delhi State Consumer Commission and ordered it to pay him a compensation of Rs 50,000. "The compensation of Rs 50,000 towards the loss or injury suffered by the complainant due to negligence in service on the part of the opposite party (the airlines) would meet the ends of justice", commission president Justice JD Kapoor, members Mahesh Chandra and Rumnita Mittal said. Complainant AK Gupta, a businessman, said when he arrived at Delhi from Amsterdam on May 30, 1993 he did not find his suitcase which contained among other things two film rolls with pictures of his import-export related sample design. He claimed that due to the loss of the 30 kg baggage, which contained samples of certain orders, he suffered losses to the tune of Rs 3.95 lakh as many buyers cancelled their orders. Though he visited the Airlines office many times and made several enquiries no effective action was taken by them to trace the missing suitcase, he said. The Airlines admitted that Gupta's baggage was lost during transit. The court, however, said since Gupta did not disclose the contents of the suitcase and its value to the Airlines, they cannot be held liable to compensate him to the extent of worth of the contents. "But, the consumer is entitled to seek compensation on account of injury, mental agony and harassment he suffered due to the loss of his valuables", the court said, adding it is the weight of the baggage that determines the loss. Source: Press Trust of India