Air India fined ₹10 lakh by DGCA for failing to comply with CAR rules

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₹10 lakh on Air India for its failure to comply with rules pertaining to facilities that are required to be provided to passengers. The DGCA had carried out inspections of airlines at Delhi, Kochi and Bangalore airports, and found that Air India was not complying with the provisions of the relevant Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR).

On November 3, the DGCA issued a show-cause notice to Air India. Based on Air India's reply to the show-cause notice, it was found that the airline did not comply with the provisions of the CAR, the aviation regulator said in a release on Wednesday.

The issues pertain to “not providing hotel accommodation for passengers affected by delayed flights, non-training of some of their ground personnel as per the stipulations and non-payment of compensation to international business class passengers who were made to travel on unserviceable seats," it said. For these lapses, the DGCA has imposed a financial penalty of ₹10 lakh.

According to a report by PTI, scores of cabin crew members of Air India Express have expressed concerns about the decision on room sharing during layovers, claiming that such a move poses various difficulties in getting uninterrupted rest before flight duty while the airline has said that room sharing is consistent with the market practice followed by many other carriers. Besides, cabin crew members have expressed concerns about curtailment of service contracts of some members as well as about assessment process at the airline, said the report citing sources.

Currently, Air India Express and AIX Connect together have more than 5,500 employees and around 1,800 cabin crew members. Earlier this month, Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU) in a letter to civil aviation minister