DGCA Slaps Rs 10 Lakh Fine On Air India For Not Reporting Urination Incident

The woman passenger, who had initially made a written complaint, had refused to file a police case in the matter.

(Image: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday, 24 January imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Air India for not reporting incidents of unruly behaviour of two passengers on its Paris-Delhi flight on 6 December.

DGCA levied the penalty for not reporting the matter to the aviation regulator as well as delaying referring the matter to its Internal Committee, news agency ANI has reported.

A flyer onboard the Paris-to-Delhi Air India flight (AI-142) on 6 December had allegedly relieved himself on a vacant seat and the blanket of a fellow woman passenger while she was in the lavatory.

Another inebriated passenger on the same flight was caught smoking in the lavatory and not following crew instruction, The Times of India has reported.

DGCA Action

In a statement, the aviation regulator said that it issued a show-cause notice to Air India on 23 January asking why action should not be taken against the airline for “dereliction of duty.”

“Enforcement action in the form of financial penalty of Rs 10 lakh has been imposed on Air India for not reporting the incident to DGCA and delaying in referring the matter to its Internal Committee, which is a violation of applicable DGCA rules,” the aviation regulator stated after it received a reply from the airline to its notice.

Last week, DGCA had pulled up the Tata Sons-owned airline in the case of an inebriated passenger onboard the 26 November New York-Delhi flight for peeing on a female co-passenger.

Air India was slapped with a penalty of Rs 30 lakh, another penalty of Rs 3 lakh on director in-flight services and suspended the pilot-in-command of this flight for three months.

What Had Happened?

The pilot of the aircraft had reported the matter of the inebriated passenger peeing on the vacant seat to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, after which, the unruly passenger was apprehended.

Airport officials had told news agency PTI that the passenger was apprehended by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) as soon as he deboarded the plane but was later allowed to leave after the two passengers reached a "mutual compromise" and the accused tendered a "written apology."

The woman passenger, who had initially made a written complaint, refused to file a police case and hence the passenger was allowed to go by the airport security after he cleared immigration and customs formalities, the officials added.