Govt Received 1,000 Passenger Complaints Against Air India In 3 Months: Minister VK Singh In Rajya Sabha

After winning the takeover bid of Air India on October 8 last year, Tata Group took over the charge of Air India on January 27 this year.

An Air India aircraft prepares to land (File photo: Getty)

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh on Monday said around 1,000 passenger complaints have been received against the country's largest airline, Air India in the last three months, as reported by news agency PTI. These complaints are related to various reasons like a refund of fare, over booking of flights and behavior of employees. This comes on the backdrop of several technical snag-related incidents on flights recently.

After winning the takeover bid of Air India on October 8 last year, Tata Group took over the charge of Air India on January 27 this year.

"Ministry of Civil Aviation has been receiving grievances related to air transport, including Air India, on the various issues such as refund of fares, flight issues, staff behaviour, baggage issues, overbooking of flights, etc.," Singh said in his written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

Earlier on June 14, aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had said that it had imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Air India for not allowing passengers to board despite having valid tickets and not paying proper compensation.

Following a series of technical snag-related incidents in planes in the last few weeks, DGCA on Monday tightened guidelines for airlines. The aviation regulator said all aircraft at base and transit stations should be released by certifying staff holding licence with appropriate authorisation by their organisation, IANS reported. 

The guidelines came after DGCA officials conducted several spot checks in order to ensure that airlines were adhering to laid down standards. All airlines have to comply with the new guidelines by July 28.