Air India should charge Rs 5,000 extra: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on flyers' wheelchair 'scam'

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw's comment comes amid mounting concerns over a surge in wheelchair requests on Air India flights, which aviation authorities say has reached 'unsustainable' levels.

Billionaire entrepreneur and Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has weighed in on the growing controversy over the misuse of wheelchair assistance at Indian airports. Responding to reports of passengers booking wheelchairs to skip queues, Mazumdar-Shaw wrote on X: “They should charge an additional Rs 5,000 per airport and then they will see how many genuine passengers there are!”

Her comment comes amid mounting concerns over a surge in wheelchair requests on Air India flights, which aviation authorities say has reached “unsustainable” levels.

They should charge an additional ₹5000 per airport n then they will see how many genuine passengers there are! https://t.co/U12fJwBTtx

— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) November 16, 2025

CNBC-TV18 reported in March that Air India handles more than one lakh wheelchair bookings every month across domestic and international routes. The problem is most acute on long-haul flights to North America and the UK, where elderly passengers dominate.

On March 20, 2025, Air India’s Delhi-Newark flight recorded 89 wheelchair requests. On February 4, a Delhi-Chicago flight had 97 requests, and on February 19, the same route saw 99 bookings—nearly 30 percent of passengers requiring wheelchairs.

Domestic airports are also under strain. Mumbai Airport logged 750 wheelchair bookings for Air India flights on February 27, with staff reporting up to 120 requests on a single international flight.

Industry insiders attribute the spike to two factors: free wheelchair service offered by Air India, making it attractive even for passengers who do not need assistance. Queue avoidance, with some travellers using wheelchairs to bypass long security lines and expedite boarding.

Airport staff report that nearly 50 percent of passengers requesting wheelchairs walk unaided after security clearance, raising questions about abuse of the system.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is reviewing the situation and may issue guidelines. Officials warn that excessive wheelchair bookings pose serious safety concerns, as cabin crew may be unable to assist all passengers in an emergency.

Meanwhile, Mazumdar-Shaw’s suggestion of a Rs 5,000 fee triggered sharp reactions online.

One user wrote: “It is not about walking, it is about the process. Most Indian parents don’t know English and don’t know where to go, so their children book wheelchairs so they can go through security clearance and baggage collection without tension.”

Another added: “It is worth it to pay ₹5,000 as most of them are parents who can’t speak English or are travelling for the first time. Airports are confusing.”

A user said he was guilty of "misusing" the wheelchair facility for his parents, whenever they had to travel to the US through Frankfurt. "Madam, they cannot speak any other language except Kannada - with wheelchair assistance, it's easy. Yes, it is okay to make it chargeable and professional. We can afford it!" he said, addressing the Biocon chief.

Some also accused Mazumdar-Shaw of being “elitist” and “out of touch”. “If your concern is they are using wheelchairs to board first, you could always board them last. Asking for extra money makes one sound like the French queen who asked starving people to have cake," commented an X user, referring to the famous quote attributed to Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution, cited as an example of her lack of empathy and cluelessness to the conditions and daily lives of ordinary people.

Meanwhile, experts warn that misuse of wheelchair services deprives genuinely needy passengers of assistance and delays flight schedules. Airlines say they are exploring stricter verification measures, but any move to impose fees could spark backlash from families of elderly travellers.