KATHMANDU, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, has endorsed the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, also known as Montreal Convention 1999.
This will pave the way for Nepali travelers to get significant rise in compensation in the case of death, injury, damages to their baggage and delay, Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) said in a statement on Thursday.
The lower house endorsed the convention unanimously after Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari tabled the convention.
The convention comes into effect in Nepal after the Nepali government deposits the ratification instrument with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada, according to the ministry.
The convention imposes a minimum liability of 113,100 Special Drawing Rights (SDR), equivalent to 157,209 U.S. dollars for each passenger in the case of death or injury.
"If it is proved that the staff members of the concerned airlines is involved deliberately in causing damages, the convention has made provision of unlimited liabilities from the carrier," the ministry said.
Before endorsing the Montreal Convention, Nepali airlines were governed by the Warsaw Convention drafted in 1929 and its protocols.
The Hague Protocol 1955 which is an extension of Warsaw Convention has prescribed the maximum compensation limit at 20,000 U.S. dollar per passenger for death or injury.
"Nepali passengers have so far been unable to get compensation as per the Montreal convention because we had not endorsed it," Suresh Acharya, joint secretary of MoCTCA, told Xinhua on Thursday.
"As large number of Nepalis has been travelling abroad as migrant workers or students in the recent years, endorsement of the Montreal Convention will help them to get equal compensation in the case of death, injury, damage to baggage and delay in flights."
According to Acharya, following endorsement of the convention, Nepali carriers might have to pay higher premium to the international reinsurance companies.
The ministry said endorsement of Montreal Convention will also boost the confidence of foreign tourists visiting Nepal and other passengers as Nepali airlines will have to compensate as per the convention in the case of any damage to the passenger.
