Under duress, Centre may water down flyer compensation rules

“Airlines have said that any form of monetary penalty for a connecting flight will make it unviable to offer connecting flights, the fares of which are often cheaper. A particular airline should be made liable if the passenger misses a connecting flight on the same PNR, not anything else,” said an executive of a low-cost airline.

Another executive of a private airline said: “The government is promoting low airfares as a success story, but this will not be sustainable if the cost of operations goes high owing to reasons not under the control of airlines.”

The expenditure of Indian airlines is higher than that of global peers due to taxation and high airport charges, he added.

Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey indicated the charter might drop all the clauses that have been opposed by the airlines. Instead, emphasis will be laid on increasing compliance with the existing rules.

“The charter is intended to make passengers more aware about their rights. Collating passenger rights that are at different places into one document will not necessarily result in increased cost for airlines. However, we will take into account the condition airlines are in, owing to increased fuel cost, and take a view on this,” he said.

Flyers do not agree with this. Sudhakara Reddy, president of the Air Passengers Association of India, contested this, saying the high cost of operations could not be a reason for relaxing norms. “European or American regulators did not wait for a suitable time before implementing the laws. If the government waters down the draft proposal under pressure from airlines, it would be a mockery of the whole process.”