Airport baggage weight issue under govt scanner amid concerns over charges

Aviation ministry examines complaints over inaccurate baggage weighing as an MP seeks a nationwide audit and independent reference scales for passengers

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) is likely to take steps to address concerns over alleged discrepancies in baggage weighing at airports and disputed excess-baggage charges. It is said to be looking into the issue following a representation by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Ajeet Madhavrao Gopchade to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan seeking a nationwide audit of weighing machines and independent reference scales for passengers. 

In his letter dated September 27, Gopchade called for “ensuring accurate and independently verified baggage weighing at airports to protect air passengers from disputed excess-baggage charges”. Somanathan acknowledged receipt of the letter in a response dated October 5. 

Sources in the ministry privy to the development told Business Standard that the MoCA is now looking into the concerns raised by the MP. 

The MoCA and the Cabinet Secretariat did not respond to Business Standard’s queries on this matter. 

In his letter, Gopchade had pointed to a media report based on a LocalCircles survey of over 36,000 passengers across 289 districts. The report said six out of 10 flyers had experienced higher baggage weights at airport check-in than at home. 

The MP also referred to a reported instance in which the same bag showed weights of 18 kg, 16 kg and 15 kg on three different airport scales. He said earlier Legal Metrology inspections at Pune airport had found baggage scales with errors beyond permissible limits, meaning the machines were weighing luggage inaccurately beyond the margin allowed under measurement rules. 

Gopchade sought a nationwide special Legal Metrology audit, which would involve checking baggage weighing machines for accuracy and compliance with measurement rules. He called for mandatory periodic verification and scientific calibration, that is checking and adjusting machines against recognised measurement standards, through competent laboratories. 

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs had also intervened in December 2023  after passengers complained that airport baggage scales showed higher weights than the actual weight of their luggage, potentially forcing them to pay excess-baggage charges. In one instance, a suitcase weighing 15 kg when its owner checked out of a hotel weighed 16.5 kg on an airline’s scale at the airport.  

The Legal Metrology Division of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs had written to officials in states and Union territories on December 19, 2023, asking them to inspect, verify and recalibrate airport baggage scales. The letter stressed that weighing 

systems needed to be “completely accurate and trustworthy”, particularly since passengers were required to pay for excess baggage.