‘Were made to pay entire amount for 14-day quarantine period at hotels’
Several evacuees among the 326 passengers who reached the city on Air India’s first ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ flight from London on May 10 claimed that they were made to pay the entire amount for the 14-day quarantine period at expensive hotels. The national carrier is operating the Vande Bharat Mission flights to bring home Indians stranded abroad owing to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent suspension of airline services.
One of the passengers, who is a diabetes patient, said he and around 50 other fliers quarantined at a five-star were made to pay a lump sum amount of ₹87,000 each for their stay. “Why should we bear this cost unnecessarily? The flight ticket cost per head was ₹49,660. I spent almost ₹2 lakh for five days for my wife and me,” the 60-year-old retired government official said.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), all asymptomatic international passengers are being sent to hotels for institutional quarantine and fliers are informed about it when the flights are booked giving passengers a choice to decide the hotel they would like to stay in.
The senior citizen said he was aware of the directives and had chosen a relatively cheaper hotel. “Our hotel was changed to a fivestar one in Santacruz at the last minute and we had no say on it because the district collector’s staff had taken over the process from BMC, creating confusion. The process was handled in an unprofessional manner without consulting experts,” he said.
The BMC admitted that there were certain issues cited after the first flight from London landed, but directions were passed to resolve them.
“At one of the hotels, the accommodation was full, and one group of passengers faced problems. But they were accommodated at a similar category hotel with almost the same charges,” said P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner, BMC
Another passenger, a 46-yearold Thane resident with kidney ailment, was taken to a hotel closer to his residence. “I am 15 minutes away from my home but have already paid ₹63,000 for the isolation period,” he said.
Velrasu said after passengers claimed that they were being asked to pay the entire amount for 14 days, BMC instructed the hoteliers’ association to charge accommodation fees in four instalments. “Passengers now may not pay at one go. The problems were only faced for passengers in the first flight. Thereafter, 10 five-star hotels are now offering rooms at a concessional rate for ₹4000 inclusive of all meals and facilities per day,” he said.
Another passenger said that even low-risk fliers were being quarantined. “I am not a threat to my neighbours as I live alone. I was identified as low-risk passenger at the airport.there is no need for me to be at a hotel but we have no option,” said the 32-year-old woman, who is a Khar resident.
The retired government official said that he and his wife were made to wait for four-and-a-half hours at the airport before being taken to the hotel. He also alleged that the norms of social distancing or using adequate protective equipment were not followed at the airport.
Officials from Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said the entire process was being handled by the Airport Health Organisation (APHO) with instructions from the Centre. “As this was the first flight, there were some issues. But they have been sorted now. All the airport staff are wearing protective gears without which they are not allowed to enter. It took passengers more time to leave the airport as the screening, customs and identifying allotted hotels were monitored carefully,” an airport spokesperson said.