Tk 14m compensation proposed for aircraft victim

The cabinet on Monday approved in principle the draft of the Air Transport (Montreal Convention 1999) Bill 2019 to pave the way for an air passenger to get some US$ 160,000 (Tk 14 million) as compensation in case of death, reports UNB.

If the bill is transformed into a law, it will also help ensure proper compensation for the injuries of passengers, damages of baggage or cargo goods in the line with the Montreal Convention 1999.

The approval came at the cabinet meeting, held with prime minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at her office.

Bangladesh is a signatory to the Montreal Convention which deals with the passengers rights and compensation, but it was not transformed into any law in Bangladesh, said cabinet secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam while briefing reporters at the secretariat.

"Since we've no law over the convention, we don't get benefits as prescribed in the convention," he said adding that the draft bill has been placed in the cabinet meeting to give protection to the air passengers.

"Under the draft bill, we'll get remedy to death and injuries to passengers, damages or delay of baggage and cargo goods," he said.

In the draft bill, some 160,000 US$ has been proposed as compensation for the death of a passenger, while 70 US$ for damaging a kilogram of baggage materials and 27 US$ for damaging a kilogram of cargo goods, said the cabinet secretary.

Citing the example of US-Bangla aircraft crash in Nepal, he said only US$ 12,000 (some TK 10 lakh) compensation was given against each victim of death, which would be at least Tk 14 million under the Montreal Convention had Bangladesh enacted the law.
According to the draft bill, the punishment for the violation of any provision of the bill by any airline would be maximum 10 years' jail or Tk 1 billion fine, Shafiul Alam said.

"If any airline doesn't provide the compensation according to the draft [coming law], its authority will have to face punishment as well," he said.