Air India Issues Clarification on AI171 Compensation Process
Air India has denied reports claiming that it pressured families of victims from the AI171 accident to sign documents about their financial dependency to lower compensation amounts.
In its statement, the airline called these claims inaccurate.
Air India explained that requesting such information is a routine step to identify legal beneficiaries and ensure compensation is paid to the rightful recipients without delay.
In an official statement, the airline stated:
It has come to our notice that allegations have been made against Air India, claiming that families of the deceased in the AI171 accident are being forced to sign papers disclosing their financial dependency to the deceased, in an attempt to slash compensation payments.
Air India categorically rejects these allegations and refutes them as both unsubstantiated and inaccurate.
Air India has been making considerable efforts to process payment of interim compensation (also referred to as advance compensation) as soon as possible, in order to meet the immediate financial needs of affected family members, with the first payments having been made within days of the accident.
However, Air India cannot process these payments in an information vacuum. In order to facilitate payments, Air India has sought basic information to establish family relationships to ensure that the advance payments are received by those entitled to them.
Whilst the questionnaire does ask family members to indicate with a “yes” or “no” as to whether they are “financially dependent” on the deceased, Air India believes this is an entirely fair and necessary question in order for us to process payments to those most in need of assistance.
Starting 15 June, Air India established a Facilitation Centre at the Taj Skyline hotel in Ahmedabad, where the questionnaire relating to interim compensation is available. In addition, families were sent communications informing them that the questionnaire is also available over e-mail, in the event families do not wish to make a visit to the Centre.
Air India staff are present at the Centre to explain the elements of the questionnaire to family members. There is no requirement for family members to complete the questionnaire at the Centre, and several families have chosen to complete the questionnaire at their convenience and submit it over e-mail.
Those families who chose to complete the questionnaire at the Centre were provided with copies of their submissions at their request. In addition to being able to ask questions of the Air India staff at the Centre, families are, of course, free to seek legal advice should they wish to do so.
Air India is aware that families may have completed several other forms and items of paperwork at other locations, such as the hospitals. The forms being filled out at the hospital/morgue are entirely separate and unconnected with compensation. Indeed, some of those forms may have been for official government purposes.
Air India has certainly not made any unsolicited visits to families’ homes for the purposes of following up on questionnaires connected to interim compensation, or for any other purpose.
So far, Air India has released interim compensation to 47 families of the passengers and those deceased at the accident site to help them meet their immediate financial needs.
The documents relating to a further 55 individuals have also been verified, and interim compensation is being released progressively to their families. We continue to be in dialogue with other families of the passengers and those deceased at the accident site, or their authorised representatives, to release the compensation at the earliest.
Air India, as part of the Tata Group, upholds core values of integrity and responsibility and remains committed to serving the community, especially during challenging times.
In addition to any compensation that will be provided by Air India, the Tata Group has announced a voluntary ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 crore or approximately GBP 85,000 to the families of each of the deceased.
A trust with a corpus of around Rs 500 crore or approximately GBP 43 million is being set up to manage and disburse this ex-gratia amount and provide long-term assistance to the families.
These families will forever be part of the Tata family. All these efforts are voluntary and in addition to any compensation payable by Air India under law.
We urge the public and all concerned to be cautious of misinformation and misinterpretation of facts to help everyone involved do their job responsibly.
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