‘Compensate or pay fine if wrongly denying boarding’
NEW DELHI: Airlines are indulging in “unfair practice” of denying boarding to passengers even when they report for their flights at the airport on time, Indian aviation regulator DGCA has stated.
The DGCA - in an e-mail on May 2 - asked all Indian carriers to give compensation and facilities to passengers affected by such denial of boarding, failing which it would will impose financial penalties on them.
Sources alleged that Indian carriers have been overbooking their flights as COVID-19 cases are receding, and when the number of passengers exceed the number of seats, the airlines do not take them on-board.
The DGCA’s email said, “It has come to the notice of this office that various airlines are denying boarding to passengers holding confirmed ticket on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding within the time specified by the airline.” This “practice is extremely unfair” to the passengers and brings a bad name to the aviation industry, it added. The DGCA’s e-mail directed the airlines to comply with 2010 regulation at the earliest opportunity available if passenger has reported timely.
“Any non-compliance of the provisions of the CAR (civil aviation requirement) will be viewed seriously and strict action will be initiated against the erring airline, including imposing financial penalties as per regulations,” it mentioned.
The 2010 regulation of the DGCA states that when the number of passengers who have been given tickets for a flight and have reported at the airport for boarding the flight on time are more than
DGCA had in 2010 issued a regulation that specified minimum compensation and facilities that airlines must give to passengers who have been subjected to “denied boarding, cancellation or delay in flight”
the number of seats on a flight, the airline must first ask for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange of certain benefits.
However, in the absence of enough volunteers, the airline can evade giving any compensation if the affected passenger is given a ticket on a alternative flight that is departing within one hour of the original flight’s departure.