Kerala Consumer Commission Awards ₹10 Lakh to Family After Qatar Airways Denied Boarding to Breastfeeding Infant
In a significant ruling reinforcing passenger rights, the Ernakulam Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Kerala has directed Qatar Airways to pay ₹10 lakh as compensation and ₹25,000 towards litigation costs after holding the airline guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice for denying boarding to a family’s two children, including a 10-month-old breastfeeding infant, despite issuing valid boarding passes.
The dispute arose from the family’s return journey from Kochi to Italy via Doha in December 2018. The complainant and his wife, both employed in Italy, had travelled to Kerala with their two minor children after Qatar Airways verified their travel documents and allowed them to board the onward flight without any objection. However, during the return journey, airline officials questioned the children’s travel documents despite having already issued boarding passes.
According to the complaint, the airline first denied boarding to the couple’s elder child on the ground that he did not possess an independent Italian visa. Faced with the risk of losing their jobs in Italy, the parents reluctantly left the child with relatives in Kerala and boarded the flight with their younger infant. After reaching Doha, Qatar Airways again refused to allow the breastfeeding infant to continue the journey, claiming the child also lacked the necessary travel documents. The family alleged that they were kept waiting for nearly 10 hours before the infant was denied boarding.
The Consumer Commission observed that the airline’s conduct caused immense emotional distress by forcing the parents to separate from their children. The Commission noted that the parents had no practical alternative but to leave the children in India while returning to Italy to safeguard their employment. It held that the airline could not accept the same travel documents for the onward journey and later reject them for the return journey without valid justification.
Rejecting the airline’s defence that passengers are responsible for carrying valid travel documents, the Commission ruled that once the airline had verified the documents and issued boarding passes, it was responsible for ensuring that passengers were not wrongfully denied boarding. The Commission concluded that the airline’s actions amounted to both deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice under consumer protection law.
The Commission directed Qatar Airways to pay ₹10 lakh as compensation for the mental agony and hardship suffered by the family, along with ₹25,000 towards litigation expenses, within 45 days. It further ordered that if the airline fails to comply within the stipulated period, the compensation amount will carry 9% annual interest from the date of filing of the complaint until its realisation.
The ruling is expected to serve as an important precedent in consumer jurisprudence relating to the aviation sector. It underscores that airlines must exercise due diligence while verifying travel documents before issuing boarding passes and cannot arbitrarily deny confirmed passengers boarding after accepting those very documents. The decision also reinforces the accountability of airlines towards passengers, particularly where vulnerable travellers such as infants are involved.
