Lok Sabha Question No. 2721 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-02
Subject: Complaints by Air Passengers
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: OM BIRLA, Karan Singh Yadav, K.R.P. PRABAKARAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: : 2721 (To be answered on the A ugust 2018) 2nd

## COMPLAINTS BY AIR PASSENGERS

2721.

SHRI OM BIRLA DR KARAN SINGH YADAV SHRI KRP. PRABAKARAN

Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that complaints regarding flights, baggage and customer services have been registered by the passengers in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government acknowledges that the cancellation and refund rules associated with the domestic air travel is more airline operator friendly than consumer friendly in the country, if so, the reasons therefor along with any proposal of the Government to establish a balance between the rights of the two groups; and
- (b) the details as to the number of consumer complaints received by the Government with regard to domestic air travel operators long with the prominent reasons of such complaints received during the last three years; (c) whether any penalty/punishment was imposed by the Government on any domestic airline operator on the grounds of faulty customer/passenger services and other allied problems during the last three years and the current year; if s0, the details thereof and if not; the reasons therefor;
- (e) whether the Ministry is aware that all flight passengers are daily issues about the flight tickets rates, delay in service, poor customer service and if s0, the details thereof and the steps taken/being taken by the Government so far in this regard? facing

## ANSWER

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION

(Shri Jayant Sinha)

- (a) & (b) Air passengers complaints are received in the Ministry of Civil Aviation through CPGRAM portal of Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances; INGRAM portal 0f Department of Consumer Affairs besides those received through AirSewa Mobile App/Web Portal Total No. of

complaints received since 2016 through CPGRAM, INGRAM and AirSewa portal are 15531, 1532 and 10434 respectively. The stakeholder and category wise records are maintained in AirSewa only and 7251 no. of complaints were received from air passengers against air travel operator since 25 November 2016, the date f commencement of AirSewa, till 31.07.2018: Such complaints involve issues like ticketing fare & refunds, stafflcrew behaviour, flight delays, baggage Issues among others Details of complaints is at annexure:

(c):No such penalty/punishment has been imposed by Government.

(d):Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) Series M, Part-II titled "Refund of Airline Tickets to Passengers of Public Transport Undertakings As per the provision of the said CAR; under no circumstances, the airline shall cancellation charges more than the basic fare plus fuel surcharge and the airline shall not levy any additional charge to process the refund. levy

(e): With regard to air fare, it is stated that air fare is neither established nor regulated by the Government as per prevailing regulations: In order to ensure appropriate protection for the air travelers in case of flight disruptions like denied boarding, flight cancellation and delays; DGCA has issued CAR Section 3- Air Transport; Series 'M', Part- IV titled "Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights

Annexure Details\_of\_complaints aqainst airline operators received on AirSewa from 25.11.2016 till date (As on 31.07.2018)

| S.No_   | Type of Complaint        |   No_ Of Complaint |
|---------|--------------------------|--------------------|
| 1_      | Ticketing Fare & Refunds |               1753 |
| 2       | Check In & Boarding      |                982 |
| 3_      | Meal                     |                271 |
| 4       | Cleanliness              |                 75 |
| 5_      | Maintenance              |                122 |
| 6.      | StaffICrew Behavior      |                377 |
| 7_      | Flight Delays            |               2233 |
|         | Baggage                  |                796 |
| 9.      | Person With Disabilty    |                 42 |
| 10_     | Other                    |                600 |
| 11.     | Total                    |               7251 |