A LinkedIn user's post calling out IndiGo airlines and Cleartrip for allegedly cancelling a booking without informing the passengers has grabbed many eyeballs online. Raagini Gupta took to the networking site to slam both companies for her experience after booking tickets to fly from Lucknow to New Delhi. She has said that it was "nothing short of a serious breach of security and trust." She noted that she had three tickets for a flight on February 28, scheduled to depart at 23:10 pm. She had used Cleartrip to make the booking a few weeks earlier, on February 4. On the day of the flight at 3:20 pm, she said that she completed the web check-in for all three passengers.
Detailing what happened next, she wrote, "Fast forward to 8:00 pm, we reached the airport, handed over our bags, and were then told that our seats had been 'cancelled by me'. I laughed, assuming this was some system error - until I checked their computer screen and saw our bookings had indeed been cancelled. I immediately called Cleartrip, since we booked through them. They claimed my booking was cancelled at 7:35 PM. The booking was cancelled by IndiGo only after receiving confirmation three times." She wondered aloud who had confirmed the cancellation of the booking. She claims that she did not receive any cancellation notification, any call on her registered number, or any email on her registered email address. She tried finding out what exactly happened but to no avail. "IndiGo gave me the usual runaround. Cleartrip gave me the usual runaround. I stood at the airport till 9:30 PM, demanding proof of who called and cancelled my booking. Unsurprisingly, they had nothing to show," she wrote. She also claimed that another group of five passengers faced a similar problem as her, as two of their tickets were allegedly "randomly cancelled without consent."
Also Read: Viral: Man Claims He Missed His Early Morning Flight After IndiGo Preponed It By 15 Minutes
The solution proposed by IndiGo was to book seats on the next flight in the early morning. The user revealed that she chose to travel by road instead. She claimed that the incident implied that somebody used her identity to cancel her tickets and that this meant Cleartrip "leaked" her personal credentials. She added, "After countless emails, ClearTrip finally gave us the name and number of the person who made the cancellation call." However, the user is determined to take further action. She declared, "I will be filing an FIR against both ClearTrip and IndiGo for this harassment and security breach. This is not just an inconvenience - it's identity theft, data breach, and fraud. I will also escalate this to the Cyber Crime department because ClearTrip leaked my personal information and IndiGo let it happen without safeguards in place. If this can happen to us, it can happen to anyone. ClearTrip and IndiGo need to be held accountable." In response to a comment by another LinkedIn user, the passenger said, "IndiGo did not offer any alternate flight nor did they say that the flight was overbooked." However, they did initiate some refunds.
Disclaimer: NDTV does not vouch for the claims in the post by the LinkedIn user.
Both companies responded to the LinkedIn post in the comments section. The Cleartrip handle apologised and wrote, "Sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. We would like to inform you that we have tried to work on your concern but were unable to fetch the details. Kindly share your trip id for better assistance.- Aditya." The IndiGo team responded, "Ms Gupta, this is certainly not the kind of experience we'd like our customers to have. Could you please help us with your PNR over DM for proceeding further on this." Later, IndiGo added another comment to the thread. They wrote, "Ms Gupta, after conducting an investigation into this issue, we would like to share our findings with you. Please note that as per our records, we received a call on your behalf requesting assistance with the reservation. Following our standard security protocols and after successfully verifying all necessary details, the requested changes were authorised and processed as per the instructions provided. Please be assured that safeguarding our customers' bookings is of utmost importance to us and we comply with stringent verification processes to prevent any unauthorized modifications. We have attempted to contact you to discuss this matter further, but unfortunately, our calls went unanswered. To facilitate a discussion, please provide an alternate contact number and a preferred time to reach you via DM. We would be happy to assist you further." In a press statement issued later by IndiGo, the airline reiterated its stance and added, "As per standard protocol, after verifying all necessary details, the request was processed accordingly. We strongly advise all passengers to exercise caution and avoid sharing sensitive details such as PNR or booking information on public platforms and with unauthorized individuals or websites. Safeguarding our customers' bookings is of utmost importance to us and we comply with stringent verification processes to prevent any unauthorized modifications."
(Screengrab from LinkedIn comments section)
(Screengrab from LinkedIn comments section)
Here's how some LinkedIn users reacted to the post:
"It's harrowing."
"That's one reason I'm averse to third-party websites. They are helpful to compare prices across carriers, BUT I've always booked through the carrier's site."
"Thanks for highlighting this. Raise this with the national consumer helpline also and file a complaint along with your FIR copy."
"It's a very serious matter of data breach and identity theft as well. Tomorrow somebody can use it for any offences."
"In this scenario, it's now better to travel by trains rather than by Air."
In recent times, many incidents of air passengers being inconvenienced due to overbooked flights or similar issues have gone viral on social media.
Also Read: Viral: Furious IndiGo Passenger Posts About Damaged Bags, Airline Responds
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