Our Bureau
London
The situation regarding the compensation to the families of Ahmedabad crash victims from Air India has taken a controversial turn. The law firm representing the families of the victims of the fatal Air India crash have stated that the airline is forcing them to make financial disclosures under the threat of receiving no advance compensation.
The Tata Group-owned airline has however refuted the allegations completely and has stated that they are making serious efforts to process the payments for compensations. They clarified that they have asked for basic information that will help them to find the relationships of the family members of those who lost their lives in the tragic crash on 12th June.
The airline gave out a statement this Friday, stating, “Air India cannot process these payments in an information vacuum. In order to facilitate payments, Air India has sought basic information to establish family relationships to ensure that the advance payments are received by those entitled to them.”
However, there have been reports from Stewarts, the largest litigation-only law firm from the United Kingdom, that states that the airline is forcing the families of victims to fill out forms. They have stated that they are not being provided with any guidance to fill out these questionnaires which carry complex legal terms and could easily be misinterpreted by the families of victims. The firm has also accused them of exploiting them at their most vulnerable time.
The law firm stated, “Our clients were told by Air India that they have to complete a questionnaire to receive an advance payment, forcing them to fill out this questionnaire in intense heat with no guidance on the terms and questions within it. Our clients have shown us the questionnaire. It demands legally significant information using terms with a legal definition which is not being told to families. The information being asked could be used against families by Air India in the future, even though few families will understand how the questions should be interpreted or the test that should be applied for each of the terms used.”
The Tata Group had announced earlier that they will compensate the families of those who lost their lives in the plane crash with an amount of Rs. 1 crore. Along with that Air India, separately announced that they will be paying Rs 25 lakh to the families of the victims and survivors of the horrific crash.
