Airline Damaged Your Baggage and Denied Compensation? Here Is What to Do

Who this guide is for

This guide is for any air traveller in India whose checked-in baggage came off the belt damaged and who is now stuck because the airline will not pay. It is useful if you:

• Found your suitcase cracked, dented, with broken wheels, a torn zip, or a damaged handle when you collected it, or
• Filed a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) but the airline later rejected or low-balled your claim, or
• Were told the damage is "normal wear and tear" or "not the airline's responsibility" and were turned away.

It covers both domestic flights within India and international journeys to or from India, because the documents you need are the same even though the compensation rules differ. The rules for international travel generally follow the Carriage by Air framework based on the Montreal Convention, while purely domestic journeys follow Indian rules and the airline's conditions of carriage.

Who this guide is NOT for

This guide does not cover lost or completely missing baggage that never arrived, or pilferage of items from inside a bag, although the first steps (PIR, photos, written claim) are similar. It also does not give you a fixed rupee figure for your claim, because compensation caps change over time and depend on whether your trip was domestic or international. It is not legal advice. If your loss is large or you are taking the airline to a consumer commission or court, consider professional legal help. For arrest, customs seizure, or smuggling allegations involving baggage, this guide does not apply at all.

What you can do this weekend

Friday evening

Gather every piece of paper from your trip into one folder. Find your boarding pass, e-ticket, and most importantly the baggage tag, the small printed sticker with a number that the airline attached at check-in. Locate the Property Irregularity Report if you already filed one. Photograph the damaged bag again in good light from several angles, including close-ups of cracks, torn zips, or broken wheels, and a wide shot showing the whole bag. Write down the flight number, date, and the time you collected the bag. If you have the bag's original purchase bill, dig it out too.

Saturday

Take the bag to a luggage repair shop and ask for a written repair estimate on the shop's letterhead or bill book, stating what is damaged and the cost to repair. If the bag cannot be repaired, ask the shop to note that and estimate the replacement value. Then draft your written claim to the airline using the template further down. Attach the PIR, photos, baggage tag image, boarding pass, and the repair estimate. Send it by email to the airline's official customer grievance address so you have a timestamp, and keep a copy. If you never got a PIR at the airport, still send the written claim now and explain why.

Sunday

Organise your evidence folder so it is ready to escalate. Save every document as a clearly named file: PIR, baggage tag, boarding pass, photos, repair estimate, and your email to the airline. If you have travel insurance or a credit card with travel cover, read the baggage section of the policy and note the time limit to inform the insurer, the documents required, and any deductible. Make a short timeline of events with dates. By Monday you will be ready to escalate to AirSewa and the DGCA the moment the airline refuses or goes silent.

Documents and evidence checklist

Step-by-step action plan

Step 1 — File a Property Irregularity Report at the airport

The moment you see damage at the belt, do not walk out. Go to the airline's baggage desk in the arrival hall and report it. Ask them to prepare a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) recording the flight number, your baggage tag number, the date and time, and a clear description of the damage. Get a copy or the reference number before you leave. Most airlines require damage to be reported before you exit the baggage area, or within a short window. The PIR is the foundation of your entire claim. Without it, the airline can argue the bag was fine when you took delivery.

Step 2 — Photograph the damage and protect your tags

Take clear photographs of the damaged bag immediately: wide shots showing the whole suitcase and close-ups of each damaged part such as broken wheels, a cracked shell, a torn zip, or a snapped handle. Keep the baggage tag, boarding pass, and ticket safe. If items inside were damaged because the bag was crushed, photograph those too. Good photos taken at the airport, with date stamps where possible, are very hard for an airline to dispute later.

Step 3 — Get a repair estimate or replacement value

Take the bag to a luggage repair shop and ask for a written estimate of the repair cost. If the bag is beyond repair, ask the shop to state that and give a replacement value. Airlines typically pay either the cost of repair or the depreciated value of the bag if it cannot be repaired, up to the applicable liability limit. Having a written estimate makes your claim concrete and reasonable rather than a round-number demand.

Step 4 — File a written claim with the airline's grievance officer

Send a dated written claim to the airline's customer grievance or nodal officer, by email so you have a timestamp. State your flight details, baggage tag number, what was damaged, and attach the PIR, photos, and repair estimate. Ask for compensation within the airline's stated timeline. Be factual and polite. Most airlines publish a grievance redressal and nodal officer contact on their website under customer support; use that address. Keep the acknowledgement and any complaint reference number.

Step 5 — Escalate to AirSewa and the DGCA

If the airline denies your claim, offers an unreasonably low amount, or does not reply within its timeline, escalate to the Ministry of Civil Aviation's AirSewa grievance portal at airsewa.gov.in. Upload your PIR, photos, repair estimate, your claim, and the airline's reply. AirSewa tracks the grievance and routes it for action. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the aviation regulator; serious or repeated service failures can also be flagged to it. Both are public authorities under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Step 6 — Use RTI for the regulator, and consider a consumer commission

You cannot file an RTI against a private airline, but you can file an RTI with the DGCA to learn the status and the action taken on a grievance you raised through DGCA or AirSewa. Details on how to file are at file an RTI online in India. If the airline still refuses to pay a fair amount, you can approach the consumer commission for deficiency in service, using all the evidence you have gathered. The National Consumer Helpline at consumerhelpline.gov.in can guide you. For a large claim, get professional legal help.

Escalation ladder

Copy-paste complaint template

Replace the text in square brackets with your own details before sending.

When RTI can help

The RTI Act, 2005 applies to public authorities. A private airline is a private company and is not a public authority, so you cannot file an RTI against an airline like IndiGo, Vistara, SpiceJet, or Akasa Air. What you can do is use RTI to hold the regulator and the grievance system accountable, because the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the AirSewa portal both sit under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, which is a public authority. You can file an RTI with the DGCA to:

• Know the current status of a grievance you raised through AirSewa or the DGCA, including the file or reference number and the dates of action.
• Find out what action, if any, the DGCA took on your complaint against the airline.
• Ask whether the DGCA has issued any general directions or advisories to airlines on handling damaged-baggage claims.
• Obtain copies of correspondence the DGCA exchanged with the airline about your specific grievance.

This RTI route does not directly order the airline to pay you, but it creates a formal record and pressure, and the regulator's response can be useful evidence if you go to a consumer commission. Read our full guide on how to file an RTI online for the step-by-step process, and see how to file a first appeal if the DGCA does not respond within the time limit. Our overview of the first appeal and second appeal process explains what to do if the appeal also fails.

When RTI will not help

The airline itself: Because private airlines are not public authorities, an RTI filed against them has no legal force and only wastes time. For the airline, the correct tools are the grievance officer, the nodal officer, AirSewa, and the consumer commission. If your airline is a government-owned carrier, the position can differ, but for the major private airlines you should not rely on RTI against the airline.

Getting your money directly: RTI gives you information, not an order to pay. It cannot force the airline to compensate you. Use the information you gather through RTI, along with your PIR, photos, and repair estimate, in your AirSewa grievance, your insurance claim, or your consumer complaint, where a binding remedy is possible. You can also use the general government grievance portal route described in our guide to CPGRAMS and RTI for government service complaints where a central department is involved.

Insurance disputes: If your travel insurer rejects a baggage claim, RTI does not apply to a private insurer either. That dispute goes through the insurer's grievance process and the insurance ombudsman, not RTI.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Leaving the airport without a Property Irregularity Report. This is the most damaging mistake. Once you walk out, the airline can argue the damage happened after delivery. Always report at the baggage desk and get the PIR before you exit the baggage area.
• Not photographing the damage at the airport. Photos taken at home days later are easier to dispute. Take clear, dated photos the moment you notice the damage, ideally before leaving the airport.
• Throwing away the baggage tag. The tag links your damaged bag to that exact flight. Keep it with your boarding pass and ticket until the claim is fully settled.
• Demanding a round figure with no estimate. A written repair estimate or replacement value makes your claim credible. Vague demands are easy to refuse.
• Filing an RTI against the private airline. Airlines are not public authorities, so an RTI against them is pointless. Use it only against the DGCA or AirSewa for grievance status and action taken.
• Ignoring travel insurance time limits. Many policies require you to notify the insurer quickly and to have first claimed from the airline. Read the policy and act within the window or you may lose the cover.
• Assuming domestic and international claims are the same. Liability limits differ, with international journeys generally following the Carriage by Air framework based on the Montreal Convention. Check the rule that applies to your journey before quoting any amount.