Escalator malfunction: Hyderabad airport told to pay Rs 5 lakh to injured passenger

Delivering its verdict seven years after the incident, the commission concluded that the incident took place due to malfunctioning of the escalator provided.

New Delhi: The Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Hyderabad has ordered the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to a citizen who got injured due to an escalator malfunction at the airport in 2014.

According to the media reports, the petitioner Subroto Banerjee (48) reached the Hyderabad airport to travel to Bengaluru on September 10, 2014.

While he was going towards the departures section on an escalator, it slowed down stopped suddenly, resulting in passengers falling over each other.

Banerjee claimed that the escalator moved in the opposite direction and others fell over him. Due to the malfunction of the escalator, he got multiple making him bedridden for 75 days and deprived of work.

Banerjee also informed the commission that the incident not only caused him physical injuries but also mental pain and trauma.

The commission noted the absence of satisfactory evidence in GHIAL’s argument that overcrowding on the escalator had led to the incident. Delivering its verdict nearly seven years after the incident, it concluded that the incident took place due to malfunctioning of the escalator provided.

Against Banerjee’s claims for a compensation of Rs 50 lakh, the commission found it “just and reasonable” to allow Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10,000 towards costs incurred.

GHIAL was asked to pay the amount within 30 days of receipt of the copy, failing which interest at 9 per cent per annum shall be imposed till payment.