Singapore Airlines ordered to pay S$3,580 to couple in India over faulty seats

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been ordered to pay a couple in India more than S$3,500 after their seats failed to electronically recline during their journey from India to Australia last year.

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Hyderabad ruled in favour of Ravi Gupta and his wife Anjali Gupta, media outlets in India reported on Thursday (Apr 25).

According to a report by the Deccan Chronicle, the couple had travelled from Hyderabad to Australia via Singapore on May 23, 2023. 

They complained during the flight that their business class seats, which were supposed to recline electronically, had malfunctioned.

India Today reported that the couple were "forced to stay awake throughout the journey", after forking out 66,750 rupees (S$1,090) for each ticket.

Singapore Airlines had initially offered 10,000 KrisFlyer miles per person, but the offer was rejected by the complainants.

Mr Gupta, who is Telangana's director general of police, reportedly claimed that they were treated as "economy class passengers", except for the extra legroom, the Deccan Chronicle reported.

The commission ruled that SIA should refund 48,750 rupees to each complainant, along with 12 per cent interest. 

Additionally, the airline was ordered to pay a compensation of 100,000 rupees for "mental agony and physical suffering", as well as 10,000 rupees for the costs of the complaint, the media outlets reported. 

In total, the airline was ordered to pay 219,200 rupees, which is about S$3,580.

"OFFERED TO MANUALLY RECLINE THE SEAT"

In response to queries from CNA, the airline on Sunday said it acknowledged the decision of Hyderabad’s District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and apologised to the couple for the inconvenience caused by the mechanical issue.

SIA confirmed that while the automatic recline function on Mr and Mrs Gupta’s seats was faulty, "the manual recline function was working on their flight from Hyderabad to Singapore".

"The flight duration from Hyderabad to Singapore is typically around four hours. As it was a full flight, SIA staff unfortunately could not reseat them elsewhere in the Business Class cabin.

"Our crew proactively checked in on these customers regularly and offered to manually recline the seat when needed," said SIA.

The airline also added that there were no issues with Mr and Mrs Gupta's connecting flight from Singapore to Perth.