Airlines risk hefty fines for delays in returning lost baggage, withholding refunds
Wednesday February 09 2022
A Kenya Airways ground crew checks in passengers at the Jomo Kenyatta international airport in Nairobi on August 1, 2020. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Airlines operating scheduled passenger flights within the East and Central Africa region risk paying up to 10 percent of their turnover generated within the bloc in fines if found culpable for breaching customers' rights.
The competition watchdog of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) said initial investigations have found some airlines in the region are culpable of engaging in anti-competitive practices.
The Comesa Competition Commission (CCC) began the probe early this month after it established that some airlines were refusing to reschedule passenger tickets at no additional charges even if the rescheduling is not a passenger's fault.
Some airlines operating within the region have also been refusing to compensate passengers for loss or damage of their luggage, which is contrary to the Comesa Competition regulations.
“The Commission wishes to advise the airlines operating in the region to refrain to refrain from such conduct as it is contrary to Comesa competition regulations,” said the agency’s CEO Willard Mwemba in a letter dated February 7.
“If any such airlines are found fallible, the commission will not hesitate to invoke the provisions of the regulation which will include a penalty of up to 10 percent of the total turnover of the airline generated in the Comesa region.”
The preliminary probe further shows that some airlines operating in the region have been taking too long to return lost passenger baggage.
Others have been failing to refund cancelled tickets in accordance with laid out procedures while others have been engaging in unexplained delays and cancellations.
“The Commission has since instituted investigations against some airlines for violation of consumer rights under the regulations, and the general public shall be informed of the outcomes of these investigations in due course,” he said.
The complaints on the unfair conduct of airlines across the region are coming barely a few months after Kenya Airways and its subsidiary Jambojet were found to have been at fault by the competition watchdog for cancelling tickets that had been booked in the period when the country effected travel bans to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.
The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) in its latest annual report tabled in Parliament last year said KQ had unilaterally cancelled tickets and rescheduled flights without notifying passengers in the wake of the Covid-19 induced travel bans that had forced travellers to halt their flight plans.
Jambojet rejected customer requests to renew tickets following the presidential ban on domestic and international flights, exposing customers to losses running into thousands of shillings.
The airline then went ahead and fined the customers' cancellation fees, saying that tickets could only remain valid if cancelled within seven days of the travel date prompting disgruntled customers to seek redress at the competition's watchdog.
The two carriers that operate in the region, however, escaped punishments for the breaches on customer rights after the two accepted liability and agreed to extend the validity of the tickets.