Montreal Convention and its Applicability in India | Original Article

ABSTRACT:

India became 91st country to ratify the Convention for Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air done at Montreal on 28th May, 1999 in the year 2009. The Montreal Convention, 1999 has been incorporated into the Carriage by Air (Amendment) Act, 2009 in India and is said to have brought pro-consumer move. It, therefore, needs to be understood whether the move from pro-carrier to pro-consumer has actually occurred in the Indian landscape after incorporation of the principles of Montreal Convention under the Indian laws. The paper aims to discuss the reason for which Montreal Convention, 1999 came into being and circumstances that why the convention was adopted in India. The article also analyse that whether Montreal Convention, 1999 has successfully brought a pro-consumer regime in the Indian landscape? The Montreal Convention (formally, the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air) is a multilateral treaty adopted by a diplomatic meeting of ICAO member states in 1999. The provisions of the Montreal Convention, 1999 have been incorporated in the Indian carriage laws as well which help in providing greater certainty for passengers and carriers in terms of their respective rights and liabilities in the event of an accident involving international carriage. Therefore, the incorporation of the principles of Montreal Convention, 1999 under the Indian air carriage laws has been a successful move from a regime that favoured carriers to a regime that has now become pro-consumer.