Oman Air to pay Rs 15 lakh to expat who lost job

Malappuram: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in Malappuram has directed the Oman Air to pay a compensation of Rs 15.2 lakh to Mannoorkara Moideen, an expatriate who lost his job due to the deficiency of service on the part of the airline. Moideen, a native of Kalikavu in the district who has been working in Saudi Arabia over two decades, lost his job in 2013 as his visa expired because of the last minute cancellation of the Omani flight from Karipur International Airport to Jeddah.

Mr Moideen was returning to the kingdom after his annual vacation on December 24, 2013, a day before the expiry of his job visa. Hours after obtaining the boarding pass from the airline at the Karipur airport the passengers of the flight including Moideen were informed about the cancellation of the service due to some technical snag. Though Mr Moideen approached the airline authorities expressing the urgency and pointing out the expiry of visa they didn’t heed. Instead, they asked Rs 21,000 rupees for an alternate arrangement. At the same time, the airline had offered seats for nine other passengers on another flight.

Mr Moideen approached the Forum through a lawyer with the complaint in 2014. The Forum has ruled that the airliner’s approach caused enormous damage to the passenger and directed to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation for the loss of job, Rs 5 lakh for mental agony and Rs 13,200 as ticket charge together with the cost of Rs 10,000. The airline has to pay this amount within a month failing which they have to pay the same with 12 percent interest per annum, the order states.