The Civil Aviation ministry has come up with a host of proposed measures today that, if implemented, will empower passengers travelling by air.
To begin with the ministry proposes cap cancellation charges not exceeding the basic fare. So next time you have to cancel your flight, don't worry about the huge cancellation fees. So much so that the Airport development fees levied in many airport like Delhi's IGI Airport has to be returned to the passenger as well in event of cancellations.
The ministry has also come down hard on airlines when passengers are denied boarding despite having valid tickets due to overbooking. In such instances if the airline fails to organise another flight in next one hour, the airline will have to compensate the passenger with a whopping 200% of one way basic fare and airline fuel charge. And if the erring airline fails to arrange an alternate flight within 24 hours the compensation charge will be an even steeper 400%.
Minister Gajapathi Raju told reporters, "These measures are passenger centric. We have kept passenger welfare in mind while coming up with these proposals".
Another grey area has been extra baggage. There has been lobbying by the airlines to decrease the free baggage limit or worse abolish it. But the ministry has kept a mandatory 15 kg free baggage that a passenger can carry. And if the baggage is anything between 15 to 20 kgs, the passenger will only have to shell out a mere Rs 100 per extra kg. Though after 20 kgs of baggage, airline is free to charge the way they want. Aviation Secretary Rajeev Choubey termed this rule as 'vital' since a lot of passengers used to end up paying a hefty amount for just a kilo of two extra.
So what about flight delays due to technical glitch or weather? Minister of State Dr Mahesh Sharma explains, 'What is force majeure is clearly explained by DGCA. If delays are not due to reasons as stipulated, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has its mechanism to verify and act'.
11/06/16 Anindya Banerjee/India Today
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To begin with the ministry proposes cap cancellation charges not exceeding the basic fare. So next time you have to cancel your flight, don't worry about the huge cancellation fees. So much so that the Airport development fees levied in many airport like Delhi's IGI Airport has to be returned to the passenger as well in event of cancellations.
The ministry has also come down hard on airlines when passengers are denied boarding despite having valid tickets due to overbooking. In such instances if the airline fails to organise another flight in next one hour, the airline will have to compensate the passenger with a whopping 200% of one way basic fare and airline fuel charge. And if the erring airline fails to arrange an alternate flight within 24 hours the compensation charge will be an even steeper 400%.
Minister Gajapathi Raju told reporters, "These measures are passenger centric. We have kept passenger welfare in mind while coming up with these proposals".
Another grey area has been extra baggage. There has been lobbying by the airlines to decrease the free baggage limit or worse abolish it. But the ministry has kept a mandatory 15 kg free baggage that a passenger can carry. And if the baggage is anything between 15 to 20 kgs, the passenger will only have to shell out a mere Rs 100 per extra kg. Though after 20 kgs of baggage, airline is free to charge the way they want. Aviation Secretary Rajeev Choubey termed this rule as 'vital' since a lot of passengers used to end up paying a hefty amount for just a kilo of two extra.
So what about flight delays due to technical glitch or weather? Minister of State Dr Mahesh Sharma explains, 'What is force majeure is clearly explained by DGCA. If delays are not due to reasons as stipulated, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has its mechanism to verify and act'.
11/06/16 Anindya Banerjee/India Today
