The Carriage by Air Act was enacted by the Parliament on December 19, 1972 and came into force on March 23, 1973. The Act fundamentally aims to implement the Warsaw Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air which was signed on October 12, 1929. The application of the Convention extends to all carriage like carriage of passengers, baggage or cargos performed for remuneration. The Act also complies with the amendments made to the Warsaw Convention through the Protocol of amendments of the Warsaw Convention, 1959 dealing with the liability of the Air Carrier to passengers and Cargo ended at Hague in the year 1955. The Act extends to the entire Indian Territory including the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
The provisions of the Convention are made applicable in India by including the rights and responsibilities of travelers, carriers, consignors and other individuals in the First Schedule to the Act. These provisions shall be enforced in India for all carriages in an aircraft, whether the aircraft belongs to India or any other nation. The High Contracting Parties as provided under the Convention are certified by the Central Government through notification. The Central government shall also determine the authority of the Parties and the extent to which they are obliged to comply with the provisions of the First Schedule. The agent of an aircraft means the servants of such aircraft and they are equally bound by the provisions of the Act to the point provided under the Act. The notifications issued by the Central government according to the Indian Carriage by Air Act, 1934 and before the enforcement of the present Act shall continue in operation as if it were issued according to the provisions of the 1972 Carriage Act.
The Second Schedule to the Act contains provisions of the Protocol that amended the Warsaw Convention which contains the rights and obligations of the aircraft, travelers, consignors etc. The Act also prescribes the obligations of aircraft during the death of any passenger without considering the provisions of the Fatal Accidents Act of 1855 and any other laws or rules enforced in India. The liability of the aircraft shall be inflicted for the welfare of the family members of the deceased person. The members of the family consists of either of the spouse, mother or father, grant-parents, brother and sister, half-brother or half-sister, children including step-child and grand-child.
The action for recovering damages shall be brought by the legal representatives of the deceased passenger and only single action shall be initiated in India for the death of the traveler. Such action shall be brought by a person who shall be directly benefitted by the action and the amount received shall be distributed in the ratio according to the direction of the Court. The Court before whom an action is brought for recovering compensation shall decide the matter on the basis of justice and equity and taking into the provisions of the schedules to the Act.
The High Contracting Parties to the Warsaw Treaty or the Protocol shall impose a claim with regard to carriage assumed by him to initiate a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure of 1908 for the purpose of any suit brought by him for the violation of the Schedules to the Act. Moreover, certain provisions of the Act do not apply to international carriage by air except according to certain exclusions, adaptations and amendments.
The Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015
- The Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 7, 2015 by the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr. P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju.
- The Bill amends the Carriage by Air Act, 1972. The Act regulates carriage by air and gives effect to the Warsaw Convention, 1929, the Warsaw Convention as amended by the Hague Protocol, 1955, and the Montreal Convention, 1999. The Act also provides for application of the international rules to domestic travel, subject to exceptions and adaptations.
- The Montreal Convention establishes airline liability in the case of death, injury or delay to passengers or in cases of delay, damage or loss of baggage and cargo. The Convention also provides for reviewing the limits of liability of the air carriers every five years. The Bill seeks to amend the Act to adhere to the revised limits of liability.
- The Bill seeks to empower the central government to revise the limits of liability for airlines and compensation as per the Montreal Convention. It also provides for the central government to make rules to carry out provisions of the Act.
- The table below shows the limits of liability for airlines, as revised by the Montreal Convention:
Table – The revised notified limits as compared to the old limits are
| Provision under Montreal Convention | Old limits of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) | Revised limits of Special Drawing Rights |
| Damage sustained in case of death or bodily injury for each person | 100,000 | 113,100 |
| Damage caused by delay in carriage for each person | 4,150 | 4694 |
| Destruction, loss, damage or delay with respect to baggage for each person | 1,000 | 1131 |
| Destruction, loss, damage or delay in relation to the carriage of cargo | 17 | 19 |
Note: 1 SDR = 88.78 INR (as of August 7, 2015)
