India might be the fastest developing economy in the world but 98% of the country’s citizens have never been inside an aircraft. The Narendra Modi government is trying to change that. Apart from connecting remote locations with aircrafts, the air travel regulator has been ushering new policies that will make it more attractive for travellers to fly.
These policies range from faster redressal of complaints to lower charges levied on excess baggage or cancellation. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation which acts as a regulator for the aviation sector in India recently introduced a new civil aviation policy and has mandated that airlines follow its new passenger-centric rules.
Behind these rules is the philosophy that airline operators shouldn’t harass or extort money from travellers in the name of extra charges – something that even the so-called budget airlines have resorted to do. DGCA has taken a stand and mandated that airlines will be charged harsher penalty than before on cancellation or delays of flights.
For instance, about 1% of all domestic flights in the country are cancelled each year, causing great inconvenience to customers and a financial drain for the operator. In 2015, Jet Airways paid Rs 3 crore in compensation to passengers while Air India ended up paying a hefty Rs 13 crore. Now, this amount will go up substantially.
Starting August 1, airlines will have to shell out upto Rs 10,000 per passenger on cancellation or delay in a flight beyond two hours. Moreover, carriers that deny boarding permission to passengers will have to pay Rs 20,000 in damages to the passenger.
These measures are not only aimed at providing customers with fair compensation but could also end up enforcing discipline amongst the carriers. Over the three month period between March to May, almost one in five domestic flights was delayed.
The ratio was even higher for state-owned operator Air India which saw 25% of its flights failing to reach on-time, according to data collected at the four metro airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
In the same period, about 5% of all flights were cancelled due to various causes ranging from weather conditions to technical snags. Now, the DGCA has ruled that hefty charges will be levied in the event that a flight is cancelled or the passenger cancels their ticket.
In its order on Wednesday, the regular clarified that cancellation charges cannot exceed the base fare of the ticket. Currently, these charges range from Rs 1500 to upto 100% of the price of the ticket depending upon the time and circumstance of cancellation of the ticket. Moreover, the airlines can no longer levy special charges for processing the refund on the ticket.
“Airlines shall refund all statutory taxes and fees to passengers in case of cancellation, non-utilisation of tickets and no-show,” the regulator wrote in its notice. At the same time, the regulator informed airlines that the cancellation charges should be indicated to the customer at the time of purchase in an “unambiguous manner”.
As a result of these regulations, the airline operators will have to be responsible for processing refunds on tickets that were bought from agents as the DGCA has said that they can’t shirk responsibility since travel agents and websites are also “appointed representatives” of flight operators.
This, of course, has not gone down well with the airlines. The airlines have threatened to raise air-fares in order to deal with the new measures, citing profitability concerns.
Moreover, in a letter opposing the new norms capping cancellation fee, the airlines have written that they should be allowed to charge at least the base fare and fuel charge component of the ticket.
The companies argued that the government’s policy lacked “quantitative analysis that assesses impact on the airline industry” and that it would “unfairly penalise airlines.”
The industry body Federation of Indian Airlines even blamed the airports and the air traffic control for a majority of the delays and said that airline operators should not be “unfairly” penalised.
The letter by FIA said that the applicability of these rules only to domestic airlines and not foreign ones will result in an “unfair playing field, and put Indian carriers at a disadvantageous position.”
The DGCA, meanwhile, stands firm on its position so far and has even directed airlines to cap their excess baggage fee at Rs 100 per kilogram as opposed to the current average of Rs 300 per kilogram. The regulator allowed passengers to carry an extra 5 kilogram of baggage over the allotted limit by the airline which is usually 15 kilogram per passenger.
This move will cheer up consumers but the Delhi High Court is hearing the matter and it recently asked the Union government and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to explain how they arrived at the figure of Rs 100 per kg.
Meanwhile, airlines and the government are also locking horns over cabin baggage. Jet Airways is under fire for charging Rs 900 per kg for extra cabin luggage and the DGCA is looking into the matter even as industry associations are backing the airline.
They argue that cabin bags cause a lot of trouble and inconvenience not just for the airline operator but passengers as well. Hence, the Air Passengers Association of India is arguing that there should be a limit on the number of bags allowed inside the cabin.
“In the first place, extra cabin luggage should not be allowed at all. During peak season when flights are full it causes inconvenience to passengers. By charging extra you are encouraging a wrong practice,” D Sudhakara Reddy, president of Air Passengers Association of India was quoted as saying by the Business Standard.
