Naidu says ₹164-Cr Compensation Disbursed to Passengers Impacted by IndiGo Flight Cancellations

Compensation to the tune of ₹163.92 crore in the form of travel coupons has already been given to passengers who suffered due to mass cancellation of flights by IndiGo in early December, Minister of Civil Aviation K Rammohan Naidu informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Replying to supplementary queries during Question Hour, he said the government is taking multiple necessary measures to ensure that this kind of incident is not repeated and consumers do not suffer.

Hundreds of flights by IndiGo were cancelled during the first week of December due to shortage of pilots after the expiry of the deadline on Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL). The government has blamed the airline for the lack of adequate planning in implementing the second phase of the FDTL norms as the key reason for flight disruptions and had granted a one-time exemption from enforcement of norms.

Responding to a specific query on the IndiGo crisis, the Civil Aviation Minister said the ministry is taking several measures and is ensuring that this kind of situation does not repeat.

"In terms of the compensation the total number of impacted customers was supposed to be 3,64,000. Total compensation that was distributed to customers which was after validation, and there are many more passengers who need to validate according to their travel tickets, ₹43.81 crore has been disbursed already.

"More than that, the Ministry was also in continuous engagement with the airlines that the kind of damage or the impact that it has created to passengers, more compensation has to be given to the passengers.

"So, a gesture of care was also extended where ₹10,000 of coupons or travel coupons was also being extended. And for this, ₹163.92 crore has already been distributed to the passengers. And more, if they can validate their time of travel at that specific time, they will also be extended. That is some thing that the ministry has also continuously following up," Naidu said.

Regarding the incident that has happened, the minister said the DGCA has been in continuous engagement with the airline. Whenever there is a new schedule that has been approved, we have multiple sittings with it, he noted.

"This was a specific instance where there were new FDTL norms that have come into place and it was the airlines which had to look into its internal operations and say that if the FDTL is coming into place, how many more pilots do we need and how do we route the rostering of the crew so that the impact is not there on the operations," Naidu said.

He said the ministry is consulting and discussing with airlines on a day to day basis before the implementation of new norms. "But, even after it is done we are taking much more care right now so that this kind of situation does not repeat itself," he asserted.

"I also have to tell the House that once this incident happened, we have gone and looked into internal operations and we have suggested more employment of pilots also," he said.

"More than 246 pilots have been employed in this three months itself by IndiGo... We have also brought 10% of the operations for Indigo. So, multiple necessary measures have been taken so that this kind of incident does not repeat itself," Naidu said.