India’s aviation regulator carried out special safety audits of 29 non-scheduled operators (NSOPs), including private jet and helicopter companies, in February and March this year to ensure safe operations, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has a systematic safety oversight mechanism to monitor compliance with aviation rules and civil aviation requirements across aircraft and airport operators, minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha MP Rajinder Gupta.
NSOPs provide on-demand charter flights for passengers and cargo that do not follow a published timetable or fixed schedule.
The special safety audits come against the backdrop of the plane crash on January 28 in Maharashtra’s Baramati that killed the state’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and four others. The incident led to a string of checks on both uncontrolled airports in the country and the NSOPs. DGCA also released a new set of rules for VIP and election flying.
“The safety oversight process includes regulatory audits, night surveillance, ramp inspections, spot check and special audits. DGCA publishes Annual Surveillance Plan (ASP) on its website. Findings of audits, surveillance & spot checks are followed up with concerned operators for compliance. Further, the compliance of action taken by the operator is verified during the next audit/surveillance. In case of any violations/ non-compliance to regulations detected during audit/surveillance, enforcement action including financial penalty is imposed by DGCA,” the minister added.
{{/usCountry}}“The safety oversight process includes regulatory audits, night surveillance, ramp inspections, spot check and special audits. DGCA publishes Annual Surveillance Plan (ASP) on its website. Findings of audits, surveillance & spot checks are followed up with concerned operators for compliance. Further, the compliance of action taken by the operator is verified during the next audit/surveillance. In case of any violations/ non-compliance to regulations detected during audit/surveillance, enforcement action including financial penalty is imposed by DGCA,” the minister added.
{{/usCountry}}He added that operator compliance was verified during subsequent audits and surveillance exercises. as part of continued safety oversight.
The government also shared data on accidents involving non-scheduled operators, including private jets and helicopters, over the past five years. The ministry said there were two such accidents in 2021, three in 2022, four in 2023, three in 2024 and five in 2025.