The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is considering longer bans and higher fines for unruly passengers after an incident where an Air India crew member was allegedly harassed by a fellow passenger, who was later fined Rs 1 lakh.
The incident, dubbed “peegate”, occurred on a domestic flight on January 24, when the cabin crew member was allegedly asked to fetch a passenger a cup of tea from the economy class, but she was instead given a cup of beer which she had opened and poured into the cup. The crew member was allegedly not allowed to enter the absence of the in-flight meal service team and was seen taking the cup away from the passenger.
The incident has sparked widespread outrage and led to calls for stiffer punishments for unruly passengers. The DGCA has decided to consider increasing the length of bans for unruly passengers and imposing heavier fines, despite the accused in the case being fined just Rs 1 lakh.
The decision to impose a fine was widely criticized by civil aviation experts and passenger rights activists, who argued that the amount was too low and did not reflect the severity of the offense.
The DGCA has invited comments from the public on its proposed changes to the unruly passenger policy, which include longer bans and heavier fines for repeat offenders. The comments can be made online until February 22.
In India, airlines are mandated to report incidents of unruly behavior by passengers to the DGCA, which then issues a “no-fly list” to carriers.
The civil aviation body has also revised the draft policy, which includes measures such as revoking the salary of the airline’s crew member involved in the incident, and imposing penalties on the airline itself.
The revised draft policy states that unruly passengers will face a minimum ban of 30 days and a maximum of three years. If the offending party was a citizen of India, a penalty of up to Rs 50,000 may be imposed and six months imprisonment.
The updates reflect the increasing scrutiny of unruly passenger incidents and the DCGA’s commitment to ensuring a smoother flying experience for all passengers.
In June 2021, an international coalition of air transport stakeholder issued a statement urging governments to take stronger action against unruly airline passengers.