The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the Malaysian Airlines to pay Rs 7,500 as compensation after they were found guilty of serving chicken to a vegetarian passenger.

It was on September 26, 2008, when the complainant, Manu Khosla, along with his seven friends, boarded a Malaysian Airlines flight from Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia, to New Delhi. The complainant alleged that despite making his preference for a vegetarian meal very clear, the flight attendant served him a non-vegetarian meal containing chicken. It was on grounds of an apology letter tendered by the Malaysian Airlines, which according to him showed their negligence, that Khosla moved the consumer forum.

In its reply, the Malaysian Airlines pleaded that the complainant had not got recorded his choice of meals at the time of booking reservations. If he had made such a choice, it would have been recorded on the print out of the ticket which would have helped them serve the meal as per customer preference. When the complainant expressed a desire to have vegetarian meals, the crew agreed to serve him the same. Terming its mistake as “innocent”, the airline asserted that it had no reason to cause hurt to the religious sentiments of the complainant.

The forum, however, held: “We do not agree with the contentions raised by the Airlines as they were negligent. They played with the emotions of the complainant by serving him chicken.”