The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a showcause notice to Air India for not paying adequate compensation to passengers for flight delays.
This is the second time in over a year that Air India has come under regulatory glare for lapses. Last June, the DGCA had fined the carrier ₹ 10 lakh for denying boarding to passengers.
Air India did not immediately respond to the DGCA’s action.
The DGCA said it has been carrying out inspections of scheduled domestic airlines on a continuous basis since May to ensure compliance of its regulations. “During inspections it was observed that Air India was not complying with the provisions of relevant civil aviation requirements (that deals with facilities to be provided to passengers for flight delays etc). Accordingly a notice has been served to Air India seeking its response for non-compliance to the provisions of civil aviation requirements,” the DGCA said in a statement on Tuesday.
A person familiar with the matter said the DGCA notice was not a result of any one-off incident. There were multiple complaints, especially about passengers not being paid compensation for long delays. “These delays were not caused due to force majeure issues but due to planning issues,” the person added.