Kerala MP seeks TRAI like regulator for air passengers

Between January and December 2016, 85.4% of the total domestic passengers were carried by private airlines. Increasing number of fliers is leading to more complaints.  Currently, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) looks into the passengers' grievances.

Lok Sabha MP from Congress party, MK Raghavan, in a letter written to the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, has advised the government to set up a regulatory authority to address the grievances of airline passengers. At present, there is no regulatory authority to look into various complaints reported by the air travellers. However, the need for such authority is urgent due to the increasing number of grievances. 

The letter was sent earlier this month that advocated the need having a TRAI like authority for flight passengers. It reads ‘Today, there is no regulatory or any other type of body, like the TRAI, to vet grievances of the air travellers, etc. Most of the existing guidelines and rules are pro-airlines, and the passengers are at the receiving end. Therefore, public dissatisfaction among the passengers is on the increase’.

Apart from this, the Kozhikode MP also mentioned about the need for redefining the status of low-cost airlines. At present, most of the private airlines in India claim themselves to be low-cost while their fares are almost at par with Air India. However, the private players do not offer any additional facilities like Air India.   

At present, the common problems faced by air passengers are poor responses from various airlines, delays in refunds, denial of services, and exorbitant fares and this is a high time for the government to create a regulatory authority to initiate actions and impose penalties on airlines for anti-consumer behaviour, the letter reads.  

According to data provided by Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) between January and December 2016, the domestic airlines served 9.98 crore passengers, and 85.4% of the total passengers were carried by private airlines. The growing number of domestic passengers is also leading to growing number of travellers’ grievances calling for an urgent of a regulatory body. 

At present, DGCA handles the complaints and also regulates the fare cancellation charges imposed by various airlines. However, a strict authority is necessary to lessen worries of the passengers and to ensure that the private airlines do not practice anti-customer behaviour.