INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The high court said it will hear the matter after summer vacation and posted the matter for July 16.The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued a
notice to Jet Airways on a plea seeking directing the Civil Aviation Ministry and DGCA to ensure refunds or provide alternative travel mode
for passengers who have booked tickets with the airlines which has temporarily suspended all its flights.A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra
Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani sought response from Jet Airways and also asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to file an
affidavit on the issue.The high court said it will hear the matter after summer vacation and posted the matter for July 16.The court's
directions came on a plea, filed by activist Bejon Kumar Misra, who had said that the sudden suspension of air services of Jet Airways has
resulted in a major crisis for passengers who were not informed about it earlier.The application has sought direction to the ministry and
DGCA to adopt prompt redressal mechanism for all affected passengers to access full refund of air tickets with reasonable compensation or
arrange alternative mode of travel for them to reach their destination as an emergency exercise.The plea, filed through advocates Shashank
Deo Sudhi and Shashi Bhushan, had said: "It is common knowledge that all competitor airlines have exorbitantly increased airfares and the
toothless and vulnerable consumers are constrained to suffer not only in terms of money, but also in terms of mental harassment of
unprecedented scale."Citing media report, it had said more than Rs 360 crore of passengers/consumers'' hard earned money is under threat due
to non-refund of ticket value."The passengers have to not only purchase alternative tickets at highly exorbitant cost, but also go through
lots of anxieties and mental agony
This has resulted in profiteering by other airlines at the cost of the passengers and till date no relief has been announced by the
respondents (Ministry and DGCA)."It is on record that such a situation was existing for more than two years, but was intentionally allowed
by the authorities without any concern for passengers and other affected parties," the plea had claimed.It had also said an amendment to the
existing laws and appointment of an effective regulator is the need of the hour to protect the interest of passengers and regulate airfares
in an open and transparent manner to avoid such events in future.After months of uncertainty, Jet Airways announced temporary suspension of
its operations on April 17 as it failed to receive emergency funds from lenders.A day after the airline suspended operations, hundreds of
employees gathered in the national capital seeking measures to revive the carrier, which has been in operation for nearly 26 years.Domestic
lenders have invited bids for selling stake in Jet Airways
On April 18, the lenders said they were "reasonably hopeful" that the bidding process for the airline would end successfully.Get the latest
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