A PIL has been filed in Delhi High Court seeking four times the ticket price as compensation for passengers affected by IndiGo flight cancellations after new FDTL rules. The petition also calls for an inquiry into DGCA’s role in the nationwide aviation disruption.
New Delhi: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking that the Centre and IndiGo Airlines pay four times the ticket price as compensation to passengers whose flights were cancelled during November and December following the introduction of the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules.
The PIL, which is scheduled for hearing on Wednesday before a bench headed by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, also requests an enquiry led by a retired judge or Lokpal to investigate the negligence and lapses of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that led to this nationwide aviation crisis.
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The petition, filed by advocates Virag Gupta, Shourya Tiwari, and Rupali Panwar on behalf of the Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC), led by Prof Vikram Singh, highlighted that the IndiGo disruptions created widespread concern across India’s aviation sector.
The plea said the sudden and large-scale cancellation of flights left passengers stranded and caused severe inconvenience.
According to the PIL, airports were overwhelmed with misdirected baggage, long queues, poor communication from the airline, and confusion regarding refunds or re-booking. The petition pointed out,
“Indigo operates around 410 aircraft with 5,700 pilots, translating to roughly 14 pilots per aircraft. This skeletal staffing model is insufficient as new rest rules require more pilots to operate the same flight schedule.”
The PIL further stated,
“When the new FDTL rules reduced pilot availability, the numbers stopped crunching which led to a national aviation crisis. Instead of taking remedial, penal action and giving appropriate compensation as per the existing laws, the matter is being diverted in the name of an enquiry and emphasis on the need for new laws.”
To prevent such crises in the future, the PIL suggested that the government take action on six key areas: dominance in the aviation sector, refund policies, passenger compensation, damages, penalties proportional to economic losses, and contempt action for non-compliance with court orders.
The petition formally requests the Delhi High Court to direct both the Centre and InterGlobe Aviation, which operates IndiGo,
“to pay four times compensation of the full ticket price to all the passengers whose tickets were cancelled during November and December after FDTL rollout.”
On Tuesday, IndiGo reported it had to cancel 110 flights across its network due to bad weather at Delhi airport, further aggravating the crisis.
Earlier, on December 10, the Delhi High Court had expressed concern over the government’s inaction, questioning why timely steps were not taken to address the disruption caused by IndiGo flight cancellations.
The bench asked why the situation was allowed to escalate, leaving lakhs of passengers stranded while other airlines were charging exorbitant fares.
The PIL had sought directions for the government to provide adequate support and refunds to passengers affected by the cancellation of hundreds of IndiGo flights, which the airline attributed to regulatory changes in pilot flight duty norms since December 2.
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