DGCA Brings New Airline Rules For Cancellations, Know Details
Passengers must now furnish accurate contact details whether tickets are booked personally, through travel agents, or via online portals.
- Passengers must provide mobile number and email for direct airline contact.
- New rule ensures passengers receive timely flight cancellation updates.
- Airlines must use passenger contact details, not intermediaries.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised rules related to flight ticket bookings, making it mandatory for passengers to provide their mobile number and email ID at the time of booking. The measure aims to ensure airlines can directly contact travellers when required.
Passengers must now furnish accurate contact details whether tickets are booked personally, through travel agents, or via online portals.
Reason Behind The Decision
The regulator referred to the December 2025 disruption when IndiGo cancelled around 4,500 flights due to changes in pilot duty rules and poor management.
DGCA said many passengers did not receive timely information about cancellations and reached airports with luggage only to discover that their flights had been cancelled. The issue occurred because airlines did not have passengers’ mobile numbers or email IDs in their records.
As a result, refunds and compensation processes were also delayed after ticket cancellations.
Objective Of The New Rule
According to DGCA, the step is intended to maintain direct and effective communication with air travellers. It will help passengers receive refunds and compensation faster in case of cancellations.
The regulator has directed airlines, travel agents, online travel portals and ticket-booking companies to strictly comply. They cannot provide their own or intermediary contact numbers in place of the passenger’s details.
DGCA noted that in some cases, agent or intermediary numbers were entered instead of passenger information, causing confusion and preventing important flight updates from reaching travellers.
Compliance Checks And Monitoring
To ensure compliance, airlines have been instructed to educate travel agents and intermediaries about the rule. They must also periodically verify whether passenger contact information is correctly recorded at booking.
Airlines have been advised to incorporate these instructions into agreements signed with travel agents.
Complaints After IndiGo Cancellations
During the December 2025 cancellations, the regulator received 26,999 complaints from passengers, according to data submitted by the airline to DGCA.
About 9.82 lakh passengers were affected. Official figures show IndiGo spent roughly ₹22.7 crore on refunds, alternate flights and related facilities that month.
However, the airline declined to disclose how many passengers were eligible for compensation and how many received it. During the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation in the Delhi High Court, the court directed the airline to provide the information. The next hearing is scheduled for February 25.
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