Passengers being duped in the name of excess baggage fee
If you are travelling out of the Delhi airport and anyone asks you to pay excess baggage fee, be sure to check the person’s credentials and insist on a receipt.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has come across cases where employees of ground-handling companies have duped travellers by charging them excess fee for baggage without giving any receipt.
A duty manager of AISATS, a ground-handling company, was suspended this week at the Delhi airport for illegally charging money.
In April, an Afghan national had created a ruckus at the Delhi airport after an airline asked him to pay money for excess baggage. He claimed he had already paid the fee to another person.
When footage was checked, an employee of a ground-handling company was seen taking money. The CISF said at least six cases were reported in two months and there were many cases where passengers did not report.
“We had specific input that an AISATS employee was taking money for weight adjustment without giving receipt. On Monday night, while we were keeping a watch on him through CCTV, he was seen taking money from a passenger,” said a CISF official.
“We intercepted the passenger who claimed he paid ₹1,900 for adjusting 10kg extra luggage. The duty manager also admitted it,” the official said.
Airlines charge different rates per kg for baggage beyond the allowed limit. In international sectors, the fee is much higher. Most of the complaints have come when the flyer had to travel to international destinations.
“At AISATS, we follow a strict code of ethics in our professional conduct and have a zero tolerance policy towards any dereliction of duty,” said a spokesperson for AISATS.
“We consistently undertake best training practices with our employees to maintain high levels of service excellence and integrity. We strongly condemn this incident and have placed the said employee under immediate suspension, pending investigation. We will offer our full support to the concerned authorities in their investigation,” the spokesperson said.
The CISF said they had informed the airlines and ground-handling companies about the racket.
In April, a passenger was coming from Kabul and going to Doha paid $150 to a ground-handling company employee. But when he reached the airlines counter, they again asked him to pay ₹13,000 for the excess baggage.
After the incident, the Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), which frames the aviation security rules and issues passes to airport employees, was informed.
Senior officers of the groundhandling company had been told to avoid such incidents in future.
“A police case could not be filed as in most of the cases, complainants leave the city and are not ready to come back. There are 3-4 more complaints in our knowledge and we are trying to establish if there is any organized gang,” the official added.