Air India gets DGCA notice for non-compliance
India’s aviation regulator on Tuesday said it has issued a show cause notice to Air India for failing to provide adequate facilities to passengers who were denied boarding an aircraft or whose flights have been disrupted.
India’s aviation regulator on Tuesday said it has issued a show cause notice to Air India for failing to provide adequate facilities to passengers who were denied boarding an aircraft or whose flights have been disrupted.
“In order to ensure compliance of passenger-centric CAR (civil aviation regulations), DGCA carried out inspections of scheduled domestic airlines at various major airports on a continuing basis since May 2023,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. “During the inspections of the airlines, it was observed that Air India was not complying with the provisions of the relevant CAR. Accordingly, a show cause notice has been issued to Air India seeking their response for non-compliance to the provisions of the CAR.”
The development comes after Air India was fined ₹10 lakh in June 2022 for flouting rules.
Air India, which was acquired by the Tata group in January 2022, declined to comment.
The regulatory action was taken to ensure appropriate protection for air travelers in case of flight disruptions, the directorate said. The step has been taken as it is imperative to “continuously strengthen the rights of the passengers” and ensure carriers operate in line with best global practices, it said.
“It may be recalled that similar inspections had earlier been carried out at major airports last year also and on ground of similar non-compliance by Air India with the provisions of CAR on Denied Boarding of passengers, a penalty of Rs. 10,00,000 was imposed on Air India for the violations,” the regulator said.
An airline is not required to pay any compensation to passengers if an alternative flight is arranged within an hour of the scheduled departure, according to rules notified in 2016. However, in case the carrier arranges for an alternative flight within 24 hours of denial of boarding, it must pay 200% of the booked one-way basic fare, plus airline fuel charge, subject to a maximum of ₹10,000.
If the alternative flight is scheduled to leave more than 24 hours after the scheduled departure of the original flight, the airline is liable to pay 400% of the booked one-way basic fare, plus airline fuel charge, subject to a ceiling of ₹20,000.