Singapore Airlines Ordered To Pay Rs 2 Lakh for Seat Malfunction

Singapore Airlines has been ordered to pay around lakh rupees to an Indian couple after a busines class seat malfunction. The passenger, Ravi Gupta, who is with the Telangana police, along with his wife, sued the airline after he had to manually adjust seats with an automatic recline feature, despite paying close to Rs. 70,000 rupees (about $800) each for a business class seat, reports the New York Post.

Disappointed with their poor flight experience despite paying for a business class ticket, Gupta sued the airline for the incident that took place in May, 2023. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Telangana, ordered the airline to pay 2,040 pounds (Rs. 213,585) as compensation to the Indian couple for ‘mental agony,’ according to the report.

Ravi Gupta was travelling with his wife from Hyderabad to Australia and had to change their light in Singapore. However, the two were left struggling with their automatic recline seats because of a malfunction. When they raised the issue with Singapore Airlines they were offered 10,000 frequent flyer miles or loyalty points each. However, the couple rejected the offer and chose to take a legal route instead. 

As per the court documents, the Gupta couple accused the airline of making them feel like ‘economy class passengers’ despite paying for business class. Due to a defect in the automatically reclining seats, they were forced to adjust the seat manually and the experience left them awake throughout their journey.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Telangana ruled in their favour last week and  directed Singapore Airlines to pay $2,400 to them for the mental agony and physical suffering caused to them.

Confirming the incident, Singapore Airlines clarified that the manual reclining function was operational throughout the flight and there was no other issue reported on their connecting flight from Singapore to Perth, reported The Independent.