DGCA clarifies compensation issues related to IndiGo cancellations, delays

DGCA said IndiGo has processed all refunds for December flight cancellations and will offer statutory compensation plus ₹10,000 travel vouchers to affected passengers

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday stated that passengers affected by IndiGo’s large-scale flight cancellations and delays between December 3 and December 5 last year have received their refunds, and would get additional compensation on top of that.

 

In a press note, the DGCA stated that affected passengers are eligible for compensation in line with specific civil aviation regulations, which talk about facilities that must be provided by airlines in cases of cancellations and delays. 

According to the DGCA, IndiGo has informed the regulator that “all refunds for IndiGo flight cancellations during the period of December 3-5 have been fully processed and cleared to the original source of payment”.

 

The airline has also conveyed that passengers whose flights were cancelled within 24 hours of the scheduled departure during the aforementioned three-day-period can also claim compensation, ‘where applicable’, in accordance with the DGCA regulation.

 

Beyond the statutory compensation framework, the regulator noted that IndiGo has introduced an additional customer support measure, termed a ‘Gesture of Care (GoC)’, for passengers impacted during the peak disruption period.

 

Under the GoC initiative, the airline is providing “two travel vouchers of ₹5,000 each (total value ₹10,000)” with a validity of 12 months to passengers whose flights were cancelled or delayed by more than three hours between December 3 and December 5. 

Passengers can check eligibility and submit their details through IndiGo’s website, while the list of eligible flights has also been published online, the DGCA said. The regulator further advised passengers to ensure accurate contact details are provided at the time of booking to enable airlines to communicate schedule changes and provide timely assistance. 

On December 11, IndiGo had announced travel vouchers worth ₹10,000 for passengers stranded for several hours between December 3 and December 5 last year. The airline had clarified that these vouchers were ‘over and above’ the compensation mandated under DGCA rules, which required airlines to pay between ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 to passengers whose flights were cancelled less than 24 hours before departure, depending on the duration of the flight. 

The disruption followed the airline’s struggle to manage pilot rosters after the DGCA fully implemented stricter rest and duty regulations from November, resulting in the cancellation of more than 4,200 flights between December 1 and December 9. As a result, the regulator had directed IndiGo to cut its flight schedule by 10 per cent till March. 

IndiGo has since said that its operations have stabilised, with the airline reporting no same-day cancellations for several consecutive days apart from ‘negligible’ disruptions due to weather or technical reasons, and claiming that its on-time performance has returned to industry-leading levels.