Diagnostic lab asked to pay Rs 15,000 after a man misses flight to Dubai, here's WHY?

After a diagnostic lab generated an incorrect Covid-19 test report, a Thane-resident missed his flight to Dubai, however, he has now received a compensation from the lab.

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The pandemic made countries seal their international borders, and when they were opened, travellers were asked to show a negative report for the Covid-19 test. While certain nations are now letting international travellers enter on the basis of a vaccination certificate, while others have still restricted entry, subject to the availability of a negative Covid-19 report, and Dubai is one of those cities. Recently, a Thane, Maharashtra resident was about to fly to Dubai and due to an error from the pathology lab’s end on his Covid-19 report, he ended up missing his flight to Dubai. Agitated by the lab’s mistake, the man raised a complaint at the Thane District Consumer Complaints Redressal Commission, which directed the lab to pay a sum of Rs 15,000 to the man as a compensation.

The man, his wife and child were to travel to Dubai on December 2, 2020 and, as per rules at the time, they took a test within 72 hours of departure to obtain a COVID-19 negative certificate. However, the lab’s inability to deliver a fuss-free report made them miss their flight.

While the date on the certificate was November 29 for his wife and child, the date on his document was erroneously put as November 28, due to which he was not allowed to board the flight.

After the lab refused to pay his ticket amount, the man approached the TDCCRC with a complaint under the Consumer Protection Act for "deficiency in service and unfair trade practice", an official said.

Commission president VC Premchandani and member Poonam V Maharshi's compensation order was of September 22, the details of which were made available on Thursday.

With inputs from PTI