Compensation for passengers in domestic plane crashes will rise to $100,000

KATHMANDU, March 14:The amount of compensation received by the families of passengers who died in domestic flight accidents will be increased by five times.

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation received in-principle approval from the Council of Ministers on Tuesday to prepare a 'Bill to regulate the liability and insurance of air transport service operators', and efforts are underway to boost the compensation sum.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the bill proposes compensation for passengers who die in domestic air accidents of up to $100,000 US dollars. Currently, passengers who have died in internal accidents are entitled to 20,000 dollars in compensation. Budhisagar Lamichhane, the ministry's joint secretary, stated that after receiving theoretical approval from the cabinet, the bill will be prepared and submitted to the cabinet. "The aim of the government is to protect and promote the rights of air passengers," the joint secretary stated.

A working group was organized in Chaitra 2077 to write this legislation. The draft was prepared by a nine-member working committee led by joint secretary Lamichhane and submitted to Maheshwar Neupane, the then-tourism secretary. A compensation of $100,000 has been recommended in the proposal. The family of the deceased is expected to claim compensation from the airline company within 30 days of the accident.

With Nepal's ratification of the International Civil flight Organization's (ICAO) Montreal Convention 1999 (MC99), the families of passengers who died in international flight accidents will get $165,000 in compensation. According to Joint Secretary Lamichhane, the bill also includes provisions for compensation in the event of ship delay, baggage breakage, baggage loss, travel suspension, cargo breakage, delay, and loss, as per the Montreal Convention.

Similarly, provisions have been set about the conditions under which passengers may seek compensation and those under which they cannot.