Disparity in compensation for domestic, international airline accidents
If you ever wondered why airline accident payouts in India seem all over the place, here's the deal:
Domestic and international flights follow totally different compensation rules—even when it's the same plane.
This gap shows up big time if there's a serious injury, death, or lost baggage.
Global rules vs Indian rules
The difference is huge: International passengers can get up to ₹1.36 crore for serious injury or death, but on domestic routes it's capped at just ₹20 lakh. Baggage and cargo payouts are also much lower within India.
The recent Air India crash in Ahmedabad brought this into focus—Tata Group paid ₹1 crore per victim, but global standards would have meant even more support for families.
With updated global rules (the Montreal Convention) set to kick in worldwide soon, there's growing pressure on India to level things up so everyone gets fair treatment—no matter where they're flying.