Bus takes different route, passenger misses flight; consumer commission orders Rs 73,000 payout

AI generated image used for representational purpose

NEW DELHI: A district consumer commission in Andhra Pradesh has held a tours and travelling company after its bus took a different route and reached Bengaluru several hours late, causing the passenger to miss his flight to Delhi. The commission, in its order dated August 17, also awarded compensation for mental agony and litigation cost.Why did the complainant approach the commission?According to the commission order, the complainant had been selected to pursue an M.Phil. in Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Delhi, and was required to report for the course on October 27, 2025.To travel to Delhi, he booked an IndiGo flight from Bengaluru scheduled to depart at 10:50 am on October 26, 2025. As he was living in Adoni, he booked a bus ticket with Greenline Travels on October 24, 2025, to travel from Adoni to Bengaluru.The bus was scheduled to leave Adoni at 11:15 pm on October 25 and reach Bengaluru at 5am on October 26. Before boarding, the complainant also asked the driver about the expected arrival time at Devanahalli Toll Cross. He was told that the bus would reach between 5 am and 5:30 am.The complainant boarded the bus at about 11:30pm. At around 5am, he was informed that the bus was travelling through a different route and would reach Devanahalli only around 9 am.Even by 9 am, the bus had not reached Bengaluru. At about 10:15 am, representatives of IndiGo called the complainant as boarding had started and the departure gates were about to close. The bus finally reached Devanahalli Toll Cross at around 11:30 am, by which time his flight had departed.The complainant then booked another flight to Delhi at 7:30 pm on the same day. He also incurred expenses towards accommodation and other incidental expenses while waiting for the flight. He reached Delhi at about 2am the following day.The complainant later sent a legal notice to Greenline Travels on October 29, 2025, seeking compensation for the losses. Despite receiving the notice, the company neither replied nor paid any compensation.The complainant then approached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Kurnool, alleging negligence and deficiency in service on the part of the bus operator.Greenline Travels denied any deficiency in service. It alleged the terms and conditions of the ticket allowed the route and timings to be changed depending on prevailing circumstances and operational requirements.The company further claimed that the delays could occur because of traffic congestion, road conditions, diversions, weather, vehicle breakdowns and other circumstances beyond its control. It therefore argued that it could not be held responsible for the delay.Why did the commission direct Greenline Travels to pay?The President Karanam Kishore Kumar and Members N. Narayana Reddy and S. Nazima Kausar, noted that there was no dispute that the complainant had booked the bus from Adoni to Bengaluru and that the bus was scheduled to arrive in the early hours of October 26, 2025.It also noted that the complainant had a flight from Bengaluru at 10:50am on the same day.The commission said the bus operator had not provided any convincing reason for changing the route or for the substantial delay.It noted that the company’s terms and conditions could protect it against delays caused by circumstances genuinely beyond its control, but could not be treated as permission to change the route or significantly delay the arrival without a reasonable explanation or informing the passenger.The commission also noted that the complainant had checked the published schedule before booking the ticket and had made his flight arrangements based on it.“Therefore, the complainant cannot be faulted for relying upon the schedule represented by the opposite party,” the commission said.The commission rejected the company’s argument that the driver’s assurance about the arrival time was not binding.It said the complaint was not based only on the driver’s statement, but on the substantial change in the route and the resulting delay. The bus was scheduled to reach Bengaluru at around 5am but reached Devanahalli only at about 11:30 am, causing the complainant to miss his flight.The commission said a minor delay may be expected in road transport, but an unexplained delay of several hours that causes a passenger to miss a pre-booked flight amounts to failure to provide the service with reasonable care.“While minor and unavoidable delays may be inherent in road transport, an unexplained delay of several hours, resulting in the passenger missing a pre-booked flight, amounts to failure to render the service with reasonable care and diligence,” the commission held.The commission therefore held that Greenline Travels had failed to provide the service according to the schedule it had given to the passenger.“The failure to transport the complainant within the represented schedule, coupled with the absence of timely information regarding the route deviation and delay, constitutes deficiency in service,” it said.The complainant had sought Rs 7,840 for the unused IndiGo ticket, Rs 8,000 for the replacement Air India ticket and Rs 5,000 for accommodation, totalling Rs 20,840.The commission, however, said the cost of the unused IndiGo ticket could not be recovered from the bus operator. It awarded Rs 13,000 towards the replacement flight and accommodation expenses.The commission also awarded Rs 50,000 for mental agony and inconvenience, noting that the complainant was travelling for an important academic purpose and had to report for his course in Delhi.It further awarded Rs 10,000 towards the cost of the complaint, taking the total amount payable to Rs 73,000.The commission directed Greenline Travels to pay Rs 73,000 within 45 days of receiving the order. If the amount is not paid within that period, the entire amount will carry 12 percent annual interest from the date of default until payment.