Indigo loses flyer's bag with items worth Rs 45,000, offers him Rs 2,450 as compensation

Monik Sharma from Assam was flying from Kolkata to Guwahati when Indigo allegedly lost his check-in luggage. It also happened last month when a faulty CrowdStrike outage disrupted the functioning of airlines. (Image credit: @nik1220/X, Unsplash)

Indigo has allegedly offered a compensation of Rs 2,450 to a flyer after the airline lost his bag containing items worth Rs 45,000 and documents such as his PAN card and driving license. According to Monik Sharma from Assam, the incident happened when he took a flight from Kolkata to Guwahati a month ago but it came to light on Saturday after his friend, Ravi Handa, who has more than 42,000 followers on X, wrote about it on the platform.

"IndiGo lost my friend Monik Sharma's baggage on a domestic flight (Kolkata-Guwahati). The bag had stuff worth 45k in it along with important papers like Driving License, PAN, Aadhar, etc. It was checked in at Kolkata airport. It never reached Guwahati. How can it vanish mid-air? Was the plane leaking bags?" Handa wrote. "Around a month later - Indigo has come back offering 'compensation' of Rs 2,450. It is ridiculous. Just the bag would cost more than that. Apparently, there is a rule that the airline is liable for a maximum of Rs 350/kg in case they lose the bag. That is just adding insult to injury."

He further urged team Indigo to resolve the matter because "Rs 2,450 isn't going to fix it".

Later, in a comment, Handa added that a representative from Indigo's social media team had gotten in touch with him and promised to look into the matter.

Every day you learn how the system can mess you up in a new way. @IndiGo6E lost my friend's @nik1220's baggage on a domestic flight (Kolkata-Guwahati).The bag had stuff worth 45k in it along with important papers like Driving License, PAN, Aadhar, etc.It was checked in at pic.twitter.com/L54ZUtOpHr
Ravi Handa (@ravihanda) August 24, 2024

As the tweet went viral, with more than three lakh views, several social media users pointed out that it was irresponsible to carry valuables in check-in luggage.

"The airlines ask you not to keep any valuables (cash and jewellery especially) in the checked-in luggage. Even important documentation like DL, PAN, etc. Even a consumer court can't help here, move on," commented Manohar Kanapaka (@mkanapaka). "As a thumb rule, don’t put anything valuable in check-in bag. Anyone can open your bag anytime during transit and no one is liable for anything missing from your bag," added Materialistic Professor (@ProfMaterial).

Handa also acknowledged that the incident happened in July when a faulty update from CrowdStrike caused a global IT outage. It led to delays and cancellations of flights across the board. In India, major airlines such as Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Akasa reported facing disruptions. Airlines had to resort to using handwritten boarding passes that day.

Moneycontrol has reached out to Indigo for a statement. This copy will be updated once the airline responds.