The Jet Airways flight (9W 252) took off from Mumbai at around 7:20 pm. It climbed to up to 12,000 feet and returned to the airport in 15 minutes.
While airport sources said the plane returned due to pressurisation failure, Jet Airways said the plane returned for "technical reasons which are under investigation".
"In the interest of safety, the commander of flight 9W 252 from Mumbai to Colombo executed a turn back and landed safely back to Mumbai. This was necessitated due to technical reasons for which investigations have commenced, " the airline said in a statement.
In September, over 30 passengers of a Jet Airways Mumbai-Jaipur flight had complained of nose and ear bleeding after the crew failed to turn on the switch that maintains air pressure inside the aircraft.