Mysore prince drags British Airways to court

The prince of the erstwhile Mysore royal family Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar has dragged British Airways to the consumer court for delaying the issue of two complimentary tickets to Europe.

The prince had allowed British Airways to use the Bangalore Palace for a dinner party on November 14, 2005, to promote their business. The airline paid for the use of the palace premises and also promised to issue him two complimentary first class tickets to any destination in the United Kingdom or the rest of Europe.

The tickets were to be valid for travel for one year from November 14, 2005, the date on which the British Airways party was held at Bangalore Palace.

According to Wadiyar, the airlines forgot the promise made to him after the party. He claimed that he contacted the airline several times, seeking the tickets, but there was no response. He sent a legal notice, but even that did not evoke any response.

The tickets were finally issued on October 24, 2006, when there were just 20 days left for the expiry of the promised one-year period. “I suffered both mental agony and financial loss”, Wadiyar told the Bangalore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in his complaint.

The British Airways denied the charges and said that the complimentary tickets were offered only to keep a good relationship. The tickets had been issued as promised within the stipulated period, on October 24, 2006, but Wadiyar wanted to take the benefit of an unauthorized communication made by their marketing executive. The claim by Wadiyar was highly exaggerated and without reasonable justification, the airline contended before the Forum.

The Forum held that the tickets were delivered at the fag end of the promised period and the airline had did this just to shirk its responsibility. Hence, the Forum directed British Airways to pay a fine of Rs 25,000 as compensation to Wadiyar.