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Jan 2007

Govt approves amendment to Carriage by Air Act

     New Delhi: In a bid to protect the interests of air passenger, the Union Cabinet today gave its approval for introduction of a Bill for amending the Carriage by Air Act, 1972. After amendment, the benefits of higher compensation and fifth jurisdiction as provided in the Montreal Convention 1999 will become available to international air passengers to and from India. The Montreal Convention re-establishes urgently needed uniformity and predictability of the rules relating to the international carriage of passengers, baggage and cargo. While maintaining a core of provisions, which have successfully served the international air transport community for several decades, the new Convention achieves the required modernization in a number of key areas. It benefits passengers by introducing a modern two-tier liability system and by facilitating the swift recovery or proven damages without the need for lengthy litigation. Air carriers, on the other hand, will be able to achieve substantive operational savings through the use of electronically produced and simplified documents of carriage, especially in the cargo field, and the ability to manage risks more efficiently. Since a large number of flights operate between India and many of the countries that have ratified or acceded to the Montreal Convention 1999, non-accession of the Convention by India may give rise to a situation involving serious discrimination between the passengers of the same flight with regard to compensation. In such a scenario, those passengers whose journey originated in USA or UK will be entitled for much higher compensation compared to those whose journey originated in India. This will, by and large, go against the interests of Indian passengers. Moreover, if the country does not accede to the Montreal Convention, the Indian nationals will be denied the benefit of the fifth jurisdiction.
-Jan 18, 2007