Letter to BS: An invisible mode of cheating a consumer has become a trend

For instance, all sorts of maintenance problems and even safety measures are being ignored in airlines, as evidenced by the recent mass nose bleeding incident

An invisible mode of cheating the consumer “officially” has become a trend. Take the case of banks. All sorts of charges are levied, but the consumer gets nothing in return if a simple service is not available — like no cash in ATM. How about a penalty for not having cash in the ATM? Each customer who comes will be paid Rs100 on the spot. No ATM will run out of cash then. 

Next comes the airlines. All sorts of maintenance problems and even safety measures are being ignored, as evidenced by the recent mass nose bleeding incident. First, they reduced check-in baggage from 20 to 15kgs. Did the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approve this? Then, in web check-ins, some airlines charge for getting a window or an aisle seat. Is this permitted by the DGCA? There is no charge levied when you book the same ticket across the counter. Why should seats with more leg space be charged? To show on-time performance, the flight duration is deliberately increased and passengers are harassed into boarding fast. Late arrivals must be compensated by cash at the door and if a flight does not take off within one hour of schedule then passengers, including non-refundable ticket holders, must be given full refund with a penalty fee of 10 per cent. 

T R Ramaswami  Mumbai

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