Pawanpreet Singh Bhathal and his family were able to fly back home by Air India in May. But they were charged an excess amount of almost $500 for one of their tickets. A recent interview with India’s civil aviation minister helped Mr Bhathal recover the excess from Air India.

Jun 24,2020

Pawanpreet Singh Bhathal and his family were able to fly back home by Air India in May. But they were charged an excess amount of almost $500 for one of their tickets. A recent interview with India’s civil aviation minister helped Mr Bhathal recover the excess from Air India.

Pawanpreet Singh Bhathal and his family came to Australia as tourists in February but returned as evacuees, with a major dent on their savings back home in India that sustained their unintended overstay due to coronavirus travel restrictions.

Indian tourist Pawanpreet Singh Bhathal and family were stranded in Australia for two months 
Mr Bhathal bought Air India tickets to return home but was charged an excess of $480 for his five-year-old son
The amount was refunded after an SBS Punjabi interview with India’s civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri
The challenges on their way back home only got tougher with a discrepancy of $480 in one of their tickets for Air India’s Vande Bharat evacuation flight from Melbourne to Amritsar on May 22. The Bhathal family boarded the flight not before overcoming some very “frustrating and anxious” moments.

It took several failed contacts with Air India and an interview of India’s Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri, for Mr Bhathal to receive a refund of the excess amount charged to him.

Mr Bhathal says that he received an email from Air India in which he was advised that the fare was $1770 per passenger, irrespective of age. He paid the amount but says was astounded when he noticed that the amount printed on his five-year-old son Prabhsehaj Singh Bhathal's ticket was $1290.