Applauding Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Congress spokesperson, and Scindia’s former colleague Jaiveer Shergill on Sunday praised Scindias decision for imposing a fine on the airline which had denied boarding to a special child.
Taking to microblogging site Twitter, Shergill tweeted, “Good decision by @DGCAIndia @JM_Scindia for imposing fine of Rs 5 Lac on Indigo for not letting a child with special needs board the aircraft – Concept of “no frills” airline does not & cannot mean insensitive “customer service” !”
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on low-cost carrier IndiGo for denying boarding to a specially-abled child at Ranchi airport on May 7.
The Hyderabad-bound flight left behind the child and their parents at the Ranchi airport.
Citing the event as “inappropriate handling” of passengers, a DGCA panel had decided to issue a show-cause notice to the airline.
While imposing the fine on Saturday, the regulator said the behaviour of the IndiGo ground staff and the handling of the child was “deficient” and it “exacerbated the situation”.
“A more compassionate handling would have smoothened nerves and calmed the child. It would have obviated the need for the extreme step resulting in denied boarding to the passengers,” it said in a note.
“Special situations deserve an extraordinary response but the airline staff failed to rise up to the occasion and in the process committed lapses,” it added in the note.
(With inputs from IANS)