Indigo airlines taking passengers to ransom- My travails with Indigo as senior citizen

To

Shri Vumlunmang Vualnam 
Union Civil Aviation Secretary

Dear Shri Vumlunmang Vualnam,

Kindly refer to my letter of March 25, 2025 on how IndiGo airlines took me, an 83+ year old passenger and my wife, 77+ year old passenger, to ransom by cancelling Salem-Bengaluru flight, without informing me. Your Ministry apparently took no action whatsoever, giving me the inevitable impression that the Ministry is in connivance with private airlines companies, for reasons best known to it. 

As a result of IndiGo’s callousness, I was forced to book alternate flights (Alliance airlines from Salem to Bengaluru & a connecting AirIndia Exp from Bengaluru to Visakhapatnam), incurring additional costs, spending time and experiencing uncertainty. As a result of your Ministry’s cosy relationship with private airlines and in the absence of any regulation worth its name, there was no way for me to seek adequate compensation for the inconvenience undergone by me.That was not the end of my travails, as it was now the turn of Alliance airlines to cancel my Salem-Bengaluru flight (Salem to Bengaluru Alliance Air flight No. 91514 on the 4th of April, 2025), after issuing us Boarding Passes two days in advance, forcing me to take a taxi from Salem to Bengaluru at an exorbitant cost (Rs11,800) to reach the airport on time to be able to get into the Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam flight.

I am writing this letter to highlight how your Ministry’s connivance with private airlines companies is allowing them to rob unwary passengers and how those companies are profiteering at the cost of passengers.

1. There is practically no competition among private airlines companies in India as a direct result of your Ministry’s indiscriminate policy to set up airports at multiple locations in the guise of providing connectivity, ignoring the fact that the majority of the people in the country cannot afford air travel and what they need are railway and road travel facilities at affordable tariffs (not Vande Bharats) and adequate facilities at railway stations (without stampedes) and bus-stations. As a result of such a mindless and heartless policy, there are far too many airports that can be served properly by the couple of private airlines that operate, which in turn has allowed those airline companies to exploit passengers.
2.  What the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has achieved effectively is to create a regressive cartel of private airline companies with an open license to fleece passengers as they like.
3. Every time a private airlines company cancels its flights or forces its passengers to cancel their flight tickets,  the company cleverly retains the fare amount for sometime extending over days, without paying interest, indirectly using it as interest-free working capital, at the cost of the passenger. If an independent audit is conducted, the cumulative monetary benefits accruing to the company over a period of time will be found to run into thousands of crores rupees, all with your Ministry’s blessings. It is a scam that calls for for an investigation
4. There was an NRI family who was to travel with me on AllianceAir on the 4th of April, who too had to make alternate arrangements at a great cost. They had a tight time schedule in India, which got disrupted by the callous attitude of AllianceAir. What kind of an impression that such frequent flight rescheduling/ cancellations creates on NRI families and tourists visiting India for a short while?

I feel that the role of the Civil Aviation Ministry in deliberately allowing private airline companies in India to form a cartel to exploit passengers and earn illicit profits calls for an independent investigation, preferably under judicial oversight. Does it not attract the penal provisions of the  Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988?

Everytime a private airline company tinkers with flights on which passengers have booked their tickets, the Ministry should not only take stringent action against them but also impose heavy penalties on them. The Ministry should force such errant airlines not only to refund their tickets fully with interest but also force them to pay an additional 50% of the cost of the ticket as a compensation to the passenger for the inconvenience caused.

We have seen how the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) has not only allowed an oligarchy among private telecom operators to exploit customers but also forced them to join hands with a foreign operator, Starlink, to appropriate and monopolise the use of strategic satellite spectrum bands, ignoring the national interest. 

Evidently, there is a well-orchestrated effort on the part of the present NDA-led political establishment to adopt policies that enrich private oligarchs at the cost of the public!
I am circulating this letter widely among the public so that they may question such people-unfriendly policies of the present government.

Yours sincerely,

E A S Sarma

Former Secretary to the Government of India

Visakhapatnam  

5th April 2025

To

Shri Vumlunmang Vualnam 

Union Civil Aviation Secretary

Dear Shri Vumlunmang Vualnam,

I am a senior citizen (83+ years old), subject to harassment by Indigo Airlines as follows.

I purchased a combined Indigo air ticket from Salem to Visakhapatnam via Bangalore on the 4th of April, 2025, almost a fortnight ago. 

The Indigo flight from Salem (6E7918) was scheduled to depart at 10:55 AM, reaching Bangalore in 50 minutes, from where I was to board another Indigo flight (6E969) at 3:15 PM. Indigo issued the ticket (PNR No G223GM) on 23rd February, 2025

After I booked the combined ticket, Indigo, without batting an eyelid, rescheduled the Salem-Bangalore flight, without ever informing me or the travel agent. Usually, the airlines are supposed to  inform passengers of such flight changes by SMS messages. No SMS message ever came to me.

Routinely, I accessed the Indigo website today and, to my shock, I found that Indigo, without ever informing me, rescheduled the Salem-Bangalore flight from 10:55 AM to 2:30PM, leaving only 5 minutes for me and my wife (another senior citizen) to get down, and reach the other flight, making it physically impossible. 

When my travel agent contacted Indigo, the airlines nonchalantly said that we could cancel the entire flight schedule and choose another day and another flight schedule. The airlines advised my travel agent that they would refund the amount. 

My problem is that I am forced to buy tickets at this late hour at a higher cost and with no certainty. Indigo is not bothered about it at all. 

Evidently, the domestic airlines have become a law unto themselves with no one to ask questions, making passengers their victims. There is no regulation on the fares they collect and the customer care they provide. Our consumer grievance redressal system in the country is far too cumbersome for people like me to approach and get relief.

Rescheduling flights without caring for customers has become commonplace in our country, This is not the first time that I have been at the receiving end.

May I appeal to you to ask the DG (Civil Aviation) to examine this as a test case so that you may improve customer support care in our domestic airlines?

In such cases, should not Indigo render an unconditional apology? Should it not be asked to refund me all additional costs I am forced to bear for no fault of mine, in addition to full refund for the cancelled tickets they have condescended to refund?

Regards,

Yours sincerely,

E A S Sarma

Former Secretary to the Government of India

Visakhapatnam

25th March 2025