Lufthansa told to pay for delayed and pilfered baggage

New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) German carrier Lufthansa has been ordered by a court here to pay Rs.250,000 as compensation to a businessman whose baggage containing a prestigious purchase order was delivered to him after 18 days and in a pilfered state.

The airlines pleaded that the baggage was delivered in a good condition after making efforts to locate it and that there was no deliberate negligence.

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However, Justice J.D.Kapoor, president of the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, observed that the delayed delivery of 18 days in itself, and that too, after the luggage containing valuables having been delivered in pilfered condition, amounted to deficiency in service.

The luggage of Ajay Khanna was checked at London before departure but on reaching Delhi Oct 7, 1999, he was shocked to discover the fact that bag with tag LH-047878 did not belong to him.

He immediately informed the Frankfurt and Delhi offices of the airlines. During his business trip, he had bagged a prestigious purchase order from a London firm worth 14,715 pounds.

After the luggage was handed over to him in a highly pilfered condition, he claimed compensation for business loss, mental agony, actual expenses incurred on the trip and cost of litigation totalling Rs.1.6 million.