No charge for check-in bags
Action against airlines if they are found imposing the cost
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-06-28 01:50 GMT
New Delhi: The Government has rejected the proposal of airlines to charge passengers for check-in baggage on flights which is currently free upto 15 kg, minister of state for civil aviation Dr Mahesh Sharma said on Saturday. The minister’s comment brought much cheer to passengers, but gave a jolt to domestic scheduled airlines, which were hoping to boost their revenues. He said the government did not want to put a burden on passengers.
In another important development on Saturday, senior DGCA sources have rejected as “false and misleading” the argument put forth by top executives of a low-cost carrier, who on Saturday cited a DGCA circular in March this year to claim that airlines have already been allowed by the aviation regulator to charge passengers for check-in baggage. Senior DGCA sources said the mention of check-in baggage as an “unbundled” service (a service for which a separate charge on passengers can be levied) in the circular concerned should not be “misinterpreted” as an approval for airlines to charge passengers for check-in baggage.
Senior DGCA sources said, “When the circular was issued in March, the airlines were clearly told by the DGCA that they should first submit a proposal to the DGCA on what benefit they are going to pass on to the passengers for unbundled services, including check-in baggage. After submission of proposals on check-in baggage as an unbundled service, the DGCA will examine whether to give them approval or not. Action will be taken against any airline that charges passengers for check-in baggage without the DGCA approval.”
DGCA sources pointed out that the mention of check-in baggage as an unbundled service was also there in another DGCA circular issued way back in June, 2013, but that these circulars should not be taken as approval for airlines to charge passengers for check-in baggage.
Dashing the hopes of airlines, the minister said, “We have studied the proposal of airlines to charge passengers for check-in baggage and we have rejected the proposal. We don’t want to put this burden on our passengers,” he said.