Airindia - Unnecessarily Charged for Excess Baggage

I have recently travelled to India from Newark, United States and have been charged for excess baggage. I want to file a complaint regarding this.

My ticket was issued by United Airlines (flight UA***) and my baggage was accepted without extra charge by the Newark International Airport, departing June **, **** (EST). I was transiting overnight in Delhi after my arrival in India on June **, ****, before an onward domestic journey on July *, **** (AI***) from Delhi to Coimbatore (via Chennai). I was told that United Airlines’ baggage rules did not apply and that I would have to pay excess baggage as per AirIndia’s baggage rules when I checked in for my connecting domestic flight. When asked whether I could then avail of AirIndia’s ticket rules stating I can have two checked in bags for free, I was told that my ticket was issued by United Airlines and that AirIndia’s baggage rules would not apply there.

This is completely contradictory and I was unnecessarily charged an amount of INR **,***.**. The staff at the Delhi airport was rude and unhelpful, and they kept directing me to different members of the AirIndia team without any resolution and forced me to pay the amount in excess baggage before they issued me a boarding card. I subsequently had to run to make my onward connecting flight with minutes to spare, inconveniencing other passengers.

For a national airline, this is extremely disgraceful service. I believe I was charged primarily because I was an international passenger, as there is no other reason for such conflicting application of baggage rules to be applied. Further, when I attempted to contact AirIndia directly and file a complaint, I received a case ID (********) but no response from customer service. When I further called their customer care line, the agent hung up on me after I gave him the details of the situation, with no response. I am claiming a complete refund of the excessive amount charged of INR **,***.**.