Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in a dramatic escalation of the crisis surrounding IndiGo, has sacked four flight operations inspectors (FOIs) responsible for the airline’s regulatory oversight. While the airline hired a US-based external aviation expert to ascertain the cause of disruptions, it was also served a CGST demand notice worth Rs58.74 crore for FY2020-21.
Tens of thousands of passengers were left stranded at various airports across the country after IndiGo cancelled more than 4,500 flights between December 1 and 10. The cancellations stemmed from the inefficient rostering of pilots to operate flights after the second phase of flight duty time limit (FDTL) was implemented from November 1.
While IndiGo is facing multiple probes following the nationwide chaos it caused, the DGCA on Friday dismissed four FOIs, who were responsible for the regulatory and safety oversight of IndiGo. The sacked officials include deputy chief FOI Rish Raj Chatterjee, senior FOI Seema Jhamnani as well as FOIs Anil Kumar Pokhariyal and Priyam Kaushik.
The officials, who are working pilots, were relieved with immediate effect and directed to return to their parent organisations – Air India. Sources familiar with the matter indicated that the action was taken due to concerns that these officials failed to adequately flag operational inadequacies at IndiGo, which subsequently contributed to the widespread service disruption. The DGCA hires working pilots as FOIs on contract basis to oversee airline operations for the regulator and are not allowed to operate aircraft for any airline. These officials play a critical role in the civil aviation’s safety system, tasked with auditing, inspecting, and certifying crew and operational compliance.
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Notably, the DGCA has intensified its monitoring of the airline by deploying an eight-member oversight team, including two officers stationed daily at IndiGo's headquarters to review crew utilisation, fleet deployment, and standby availability. IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras were also scheduled to appear before a DGCA investigation panel for a second round of questioning. As a remedial measure, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has curtailed IndiGo’s flight schedule by 10% to stabilise operations.
Adding to the airline's troubles, IndiGo’s parent company InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. was served a fresh Goods and Services Tax (GST) penalty order amounting to Rs58.74 crore for FY2020-21 by the Delhi South Commissionerate’s additional commissioner. The airline stated in a regulatory filing that it believes the order is erroneous and that it has a strong case on merits, supported by external tax advisors. The company confirmed it will formally contest the order before the appropriate appellate authority.
This is the third such tax-related notice received by IndiGo's parent company in a short period, following a GST demand order of Rs117.52 crore from the CGST Kochi Commissionerate for FY 2018-19 to 2021-22 and an income tax demand worth KWD4.48 lakh (approximately Rs13.25 crore) from Kuwaiti authorities earlier in the month. IndiGo maintains that these tax demands will not materially impact its financials or operations.
In a move to address the systemic issues behind the chaos, IndiGo's board appointed an external aviation expert, Chief Aviation Advisors LLC, to conduct an independent, root-cause analysis of the flight disruptions. The US-based firm is led by veteran aviation expert Captain John Illson, who served with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), International Air Transport Association (IATA) and major global carriers.
“The objective is to conduct an independent root cause analysis of the recent operational disruption, besides opportunities for improvement,” read the airline’s statement, adding that the decision was advised by IndiGo Board’s crisis management group’s recommendation.
IndiGo, which had earlier stated to provide additional compensation to passengers stranded at airports between December 3 and 5 through travel vouchers, claimed that the additional and mandatory compensation, in current estimation, amounts to over Rs500 crores. In a statement issued late Friday evening, the airline said that it is identifying flights where customers were severely affected on the said dates and will reach out to all such passengers in January to "extend the compensation smoothly."
"At this stage, our primary focus is ensuring that all refunds for affected customers are processed efficiently, expeditiously and with the utmost urgency. Most of them have already been implemented and the remaining ones will reflect shortly," said the airline's spokesperson.
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