Qatar Airways has been directed by a district consumer forum here to pay 80,005 rupees to a flier for loss of his luggage in transit from Delhi to Milan. The East District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum said that Qatar Airways is liable to reimburse Delhi resident Manish Raj Bhardwaj for loss as his baggage was lost due to negligence of the airline's handling staff.

"The affidavit filed by the complainant (Bhardwaj) is uncontested. In these circumstances, it is to be accepted that the value of the lost baggage was 60,005 rupees and the offer made by respondent (airline) of 5,525 rupees was not justified. The goods were lost due to negligence on the part of handling staff of the respondent. As such they cannot escape from their liability of reimbursing the amount of loss..."

"It has also been contented by complainant that articles lost were of prime importance for his visit and he could not show them to prospective clients. He suffered not only loss of goods but also loss of opportunities which cannot be evaluated in terms of money," the bench presided by N A Zaidi said. The forum directed the airline to pay Bhardwaj 60,005 rupees as the value of the lost goods and compensation of 20,000 rupees which included the cost of litigation.

Bhardwaj's grievance, according to his complaint, had been that not only did the airline lose his luggage but it offered a paltry sum of 5,525 rupees to him as compensation.

He had said in his complaint that he had travelled to Milan from Delhi via Doha on Dec. 19, 2010 and when he had arrived there on the next day he was informed that two pieces of his luggage were missing.

He had lodged a "property irregularity report" with the airline on Dec. 20, 2010 at Milan and had reported loss of items worth 60,005 rupees, giving all the details, he had said. The airline was proceeded against ex-parte as no one appeared on its behalf in the forum.