‘Bid to deny air crash victims’ kin their dues’
DYFI to lead families’ march
The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPM will lead a protest rally of kin of the victims of aircrash against the disparity in compensation being paid to bereaved families, to Air India office at Mangalore on September 8 .
According to a press release from DYFI, Air India and Insurance consortium are “unduly influencing” Mangalore aircrash victims. Hence, the Union Civil Avilation Minister should intervene and solve the problem at the earliest.
The press note said most of the passengers who travelled in the ill-fated Air India flight belonged to middle/low income families and most of them were the only bread winners for their families living in India.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and the management of Air India announced an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the family of the dead. Further, the Union Minister declared that the families of deceased would get a compensation upto Rs 76 lakh each. However, the recent acivities of Air India and the insurance consortium led by Reliance is “disappointing”, the release said.
It said that the insurers, “with the knowledge and connivance of the Air India Management” had approached the families of the victims and are negotiating for a meager settlement.
“They are persuading the victims to accept the settlement which is based on the income of the deceased, which means the insurance companies have to pay only a less compensation as most of the families are from lower income group. The act of Air India and the insurance consortium are illegal and against the law,” DYFI said.
International Air carriage and accidents are governed by Montreal Convention to which India is a party. India incorporated Montreal Convention by way of an amendment to ‘The Carriage by Air Act 1972,’ in May 2009.
Article 21 of the Montreal Convention eliminates all arbitrary limits on air carrier liability with respect to accident victims. The carrier may avoid liability for the full amount of damages only if it proves that it was not negligent or that a third party was solely responsible for the damages, the CPM youth wing said.
Further, Article 21 holds carriers strictly liable for the first 100,000 SDR (USD 1,52,000 = INR 70 lakh approximately) of proven damages for each passenger, i.e, the carrier may not avoid liability for this amount, even if the accident was caused without any fault or negligence of the carrier, the note further said.
The issue of classifying passengers according to the position and income for assessing the compensation can not be applied in an international flight as, in an international flight there will be passengers of different nationalities and working in different countries would be travelling.
The difference in currency value in each country will be a hindrance for any assessment made on the value of the income, the press note said.
