Stop charging flyers for checking-in at airports, govt directs airlines

Air travellers will no longer need to pay any additional fee for a boarding pass at airport check-in counters, the Ministry of Aviation said on Thursday.

Following a spate of complaints on Twitter, the aviation ministry has asked airlines to immediately stop levying a fee of about Rs 200 per passenger for this service. India’s largest airline IndiGo currently charges a fee if a passenger asks for a boarding pass at its check-in counter.

“It has come to the notice of the MCA that airlines are charging an additional amount for issuing boarding passes from passengers,” the ministry said in a circular.

This additional amount is ‘not in accordance with the rules’, in keeping with the provisions of Aircraft Rules, 1937, it clarified. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had earlier said he had asked officers to look into the issue.

Mandatory web check-in was one of the key conditions under which regular domestic flights were allowed to resume operations after a two-month suspension from May 25, 2020. This was done to maintain social distancing.

Airlines like IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Go First had started charging passengers if they failed to do an online check-in. These airlines charge passengers an average of Rs 200 for printing a boarding pass and the same amount as facilitation fee for domestic passengers if the check-in is done at airports instead.

While passengers lauded the move, airline executives said this would discourage incentivising web check-in and increase crowding at check-in counters, consequently leading to delays.
 

“The government had aggressively pushed for web check-in because of Covid, so that contact points are reduced. The threat of Covid is still there. The government should not discourage web check-ins,” said an airline executive.