New bill could see air crash victims receive up to Tk 1.4cr compensation

A bill titled "The Air Transport (Montreal Convention 1999) Bill 2020" was placed in parliament today paving the way for an air passenger to get some US$ 160,000 (Tk 1.4 crore) as compensation in case of death in air accident.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali placed the bill in the House, which was then sent to the respective parliamentary standing committee for further scrutiny.

The parliamentary watchdog was asked to submit its report within a month.

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

Bangladesh is a signatory to the Montreal Convention, which deals with passengers' rights and compensation, but it was not transformed into any law in Bangladesh.

Since there is no law over the convention, Bangladesh does not get the benefits as prescribed in the Convention.

The bill, if enacted as law, will give protection to air passengers.

Under the bill, passengers will get compensation for death and injuries, damages or delay of baggage and cargo goods.

Some USD 160,000 has been proposed as compensation for the death of a passenger, while USD 70 for damaging a kilogram of baggage materials and USD 27 for damaging a kilogram of cargo goods, the bill states.

According to the bill, the punishment for the violation of any provision of the bill by any airline would be maximum 10 years' jail or Tk 100 crore fine.

Earlier on August 26, 2019, the cabinet approved, in principle, the draft of an act that would make airlines pay over Tk 1.35 crore to the family of any Bangladeshi killed in a plane crash.

Currently, the families receive about Tk 21.12 lakh or $25,000 in compensation under the Warsaw Convention 1955, of which Bangladesh is a signatory.

In case of any civil aviation accidents, international carriers go by the Warsaw Convention and MC99.

The MC99 establishes airline liability in case of death or injury to passengers, delay, damage or loss of baggage and cargo. It unifies all of the different international treaty regimes covering airline liability that had developed haphazardly since 1929. The MC99 was formulated to be a single, universal treaty to govern airline liability around the world.

The MC99 gives consumers better protection and compensation and facilitates faster air cargo shipments.