The Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicated in its decision that a citizen has the right to demand compensation for moral damages for a bus that was late or did not arrive at all . The basis for this decision was the case of a resident of Naro-Fominsk, near Moscow, who almost missed the train due to violations of the bus route.
To get to the capital’s Paveletsky station, he expected to use a regular bus, but this one, in short, simply did not arrive on time. As a result, the citizen, in order not to be late for the train, in difficulty mode, first went to the station by minibus, and then to Moscow by train.
As noted by the Supreme Court, “through the fault of the defendant, the plaintiff had to run to the train and the subway with a suitcase in his hand. This made the plaintiff anxious and worried about the train and the physical suffering , expressed in a severe headache due to experiments.
However, subsequent attempts by the citizen to receive a rather modest compensation of 5,000 rubles from the bus operators through the court were not successful. The case therefore went all the way to the Supreme Court. It was he who admitted that it was impossible in such a situation to release the transport workers from their share of responsibility and underlined: “In the event of non-compliance or poor performance of the transport obligations, the carrier is liable… If a citizen has suffered moral damage… the court may impose on the offender the obligation of pecuniary reparation of the said damage.”
Thus, reversing all previous decisions on the case, the court ordered to consider it again, taking into account the definition.
