Complaints against CISF at T3 on a rise

When Maneesh (who goes by his first name), went to Terminal 3 of the IGIA Airport to pick up his relatives, he did not know that his iPad will stop him from entering the arrival hall. He had purchased a visitors' entry ticket for the T3's arrival hall but an officer of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) posted at the gate stopped him, claiming that a visitor is not allowed to carry any item with him inside.

When Maneesh (who goes by his first name), went to Terminal 3 of the IGIA Airport to pick up his relatives, he did not know that his iPad will stop him from entering the arrival hall. He had purchased a visitors' entry ticket for the T3's arrival hall but an officer of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) posted at the gate stopped him, claiming that a visitor is not allowed to carry any item with him inside.

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"When I asked him whether such a rule existed, his reply was, no rule is required as I am standing here. It wasn't the fact I was stopped but the way the CISF personnel behaved that has made me write this complaint. You cannot build airports of international standard with this attitude," Maneesh wrote in his complaint on the feedback form. These forms are available on the website of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).

And Maneesh is not the only one to complain about the CISF. A DIAL officer who handles grievances says they have been receiving a number of complaints from passengers about the behaviour of the CISF staff posted at T3.

"We generally forward all these complaints to the CISF and after receiving their reply, send the same to the complainant," said a DIAL officer on the condition of anonymity. "During Commonwealth Games training lasted and till the time the Games were on, we did not receive a single complaint against the CISF. But in the past three months, such grievances have started pouring in again," the officer added.

According to the CISF, the guidelines of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) prohibits a visitor from carrying any item inside the arrival hall. "We only allow mobile phones. Since the complainant was carrying an iPad, we stopped him. As far as the attitude was concerned, we will talk to our staff," a CISF officer said.

In another compliant received on April 25, a female passenger alleged that cash was stolen from her mother's bag during security check. "An airport cannot claim to comply with international standards if thefts take place in a high-security zone. It is far away from being world-class as passengers' belongings are not safe," she said in her online complaint.