TCS wins deal to digitise daily operations of India's aviation regulator

TCS bags prestigious government project after running passport services and helping in MNREGA.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has won a mandate from India’s civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to digitise its daily operations.

As part of National Civil Aviation Policy (2017), it was planned that the aviation regulator’s daily functioning will be digitised. The project is named as E-Governance for Civil Aviation (eGCA).

The aviation regulator had called for the purpose in 2018. The project envisages online service delivery, automation of systems, processes at the back-end and implementation of required IT infrastructure and service delivery framework, DGCA said.

For TCS, it is another prestigious government project that it has won after server system for passport services, rural system for employment program MNREGA, India Post and GST service portal for multiple state governments.

“TCS has won the mandate for online transformation of workings of DGCA. The scope of work is huge-basically digitising entire functioning of the DGCA so that no airlines, airport operators and other stakeholders do need to visit DGCA for their work,” said an official aware of the development.

“Currently, the stakeholders view DGCA in terms of directorates and not as a single entity. For example, an airline operator deals with Air Safety Directorate, Air Transport Directorate and Flight Standards Directorate independently and as separate entity. eGCA envisages that the platform allows stakeholders to access all services holistically as a single window rather than accessing services through multiple windows. It is envisaged that stakeholders, for any service, view DGCA as a single entity rather than directorate level view,” the official said.

The entire work will be completed in two years, which will include digitising licensing pilots and crews, surveillance, reports of safety audit. 

“TCS has been asked to digitise those process first for which airlines and common people have to visit the office often. In the second step, internal office work and files will be digitised,” the official said.

“Commercial pilots complained of making multiple visits to the DGCA office in New Delhi either for renewing their licences or for any other work, resulting in unnecessary commute and stay in the national capital. Given the dissatisfaction among fliers over airline customer service, such a facility will also help in addressing their grievances,” the official added.