Draft law proposes Taka 1.17cr compensation for air crash casualty

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DHAKA, Jan 20, 2020 (BSS) – The cabinet today gave final approval to a
draft law on air transportation, proposing an enhanced compensation of Taka
1.17crore for every casualty in any air crash, while the previous amount was
Taka 20, 37, 600.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the weekly cabinet meeting which gave
its final nod to The Air Transport (The Montreal Convention, 1999) Act,
2020,” Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told a press briefing at the
Bangladesh Secretariat after the meeting at the PMO.

He added that the amount was meant for individual victims of any air crash,
dead or wounded, while the law was drafted in line with The 1999 Montreal
Convention on air transportation, which Bangladesh endorsed on the same year.

Anwarul said the law sought to combine existing three laws on air
transportation which would be scrapped once The Air Transport (The Montreal
Convention, 1999) Act, 2020 was passed in parliament.

Officials familiar with the drafting process said the victims of a recent
crash of a Bangladeshi private airlines craft got Taka 20, 37, 600, which
appeared minimal, prompting authorities to re-fix the compensation amount
under the proposed law.

The cabinet secretary said that the law also proposed payment of US$ 5,734
to every passenger by every flight carrier company for flight delays, while
the amount previously was only $20.

He said the proposed law would simultaneously obligate flight carriers to
compensate enhanced amount of money for missing or damaged passenger luggage
and cargo.

Anwarul said the proposed amount is $1381 and $24 respectively for per
kilogramme of damaged or lost baggage and cargo while the amounts were $20
for both the cases.

He said the law will be applicable for both domestic and international air
transportation but a new rule would be required to enforce it for air
carriers in local routes.

The top government bureaucrat said the cabinet today also approved in
principle draft of “The Bangladesh Travel Agencies (Registration and Control)
(Amendment), Act, 2020, for smoothening the travel agency businesses.

The proposed law would allow one travel agent to transfer his or her
ownership under some specific conditions, open branch offices and renew
licenses even after expiry of deadlines.

Iodised Salt Act, 2020 and Chattogram Port Authority Act, 2020 were two
other proposed laws to get the cabinet nod while Anwarul, however, detailed
only the objective of the salt law saying, it aimed to ensure proportionate
mixture of iodine in salts.

He said the law suggested establishment of a salt research institute among
other things.

On the Chattogram Port Authority Act, Anwarul just said it would make the
existing law “time-befitting”.

The meeting, he said, gave nod to a Youth and Sports Ministry proposal to
celebrate National Sports Day on 6th of April every year simultaneously with
International Sports Day.

Anwarul said the cabinet was informed that 73 of the 97 decisions were
implemented by now in the fourth quarter from October to December 2019.