DGCA slaps Rs 1.2 cr fine on IndiGo, Rs 60 lakh on Mumbai airport in passengers eating on tarmac case

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 1.2 crore on IndiGo and Rs 60 lakh on CSMI Airport, Mumbai (MIAL) in connection with the video of passengers eating on the tarmac at the Airport. The regulator said the reply to the show cause notice was received today and was not found satisfactory as the response submitted by MIAL showed that they had failed to adhere to the safety requirements. 

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation issued show cause notices to both Indigo and Mumbai airport after a video of passengers sitting on the tarmac and eating food went viral on social media. "If replies are not received in the given time, then enforcement action, including financial penalty, will be initiated," the ministry warned.

The ministry held both Mumbai airport and IndiGo responsible for the incident and blamed them for not being "proactive in anticipating the situation and making the appropriate facilitation arrangements for passengers at the airport". "The aircraft was allotted a remote bay C-33 (instead of a Contact Stand - an aircraft parking stand that is suitable for walking passengers to and from an aircraft from an allocated boarding gate), which further added to passenger woes and deprived them the opportunity to avail basic facilities like restrooms and refreshments at the terminal," the government notice read.

The ministry further said that the flight operation happened without taking "passenger convenience, laid down security norms and operational issues into account". "Indigo allowed disembarkation of passengers from flight 6E 2195 on to the apron and then boarded them on to flight 6E 2091 on 15.01.2024 at Mumbai airport, without following the procedure of security screening, which is in violation of the above-mentioned orders. Further, the incident was not reported to BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) by the aircraft operator, which attributes to violation of Rule 51 of the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023," the show cause notice to IndiGo read.

Mumbai airport has been pulled up for the violation of the same norms in regard to the failure of reporting the incident. "The Airport Security Group (ASG) of Mumbai was also not forewarned about the situation," the notice said.

(With inputs from Poulomi Saha)