Aviation minister Scindia to examine ‘ridiculous’ new airline rule

Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, 51, has agreed to examine a new rule on generating boarding passes.

Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has promised to look into the matter of airlines charging extra to provide a hard copy of boarding pass to passengers. Scindia agreed that airlines charging extra for generating a boarding pass was “ridiculous” when tagged in a complaint about low-cost airline SpiceJet.

On Friday, a Twitter user complained about SpiceJet charging their customers for generating a boarding pass at the check-in counter. “New rule of SpiceJet. If you wish to get a boarding card at the check in counter, you need to pay extra. This is like telling a customer in a restaurant that if you want eat in a plate, you will be charged,” the user tweeted.

This issue was brought to the aviation minister’s attention by a journalist who branded the rule “ridiculous.”

"Agreed, will examine this asap!" Jyotiraditya Scindia promised.

Agreed, will examine this asap! https://t.co/KkY8b0xP93

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) May 13, 2022

However, many on Twitter have complained about airlines charging extra from passengers who want a physical copy of their boarding pass. The rule, they have pointed out, is discriminatory as not everyone carries a smartphone to access a soft copy of the pass.

This is against public policy of india- what if a consumer doesn’t have a smart phone! Do you charge a consumer extra for a ticket that he already paid for! @grumpeoldman @AjaySingh_SG

— Dr. Neeti Shikha (@neetishikha) May 13, 2022

The issue is not limited to SpiceJet. IndiGo and Go First passengers have also complained about this on Twitter.

Mr Chandra, as web check-in is mandatory by the Government, therefore, a facilitation fee of INR 200 is chargeable for check-in assistance at the airport. Web checked-in passengers may get the printed boarding pass for free from the airport kiosk machine. 1/2

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) May 14, 2022

@JM_Scindia @GoFirstairways @ndtvindia @CNN @DainikBhaskar @the_hindu
New rule of Go First, if you wish to get boarding pass after web check in you have to pay Rs 200 extra.they just charged me
Is this not a Manmani? pic.twitter.com/4VtE5Cjc6y

— Qamar Siddiqui (@QamarSiddiqui14) May 13, 2022

One Twitter user pointed out that web check in is not always possible, especially if the ticket was booked in case of an emergency.

There are times when you can't web check in.. Like i had a death in family & i urgently booked the ticket but missed to check in. Since brdg had <60mins left web check-in window was closed & airport counter demanded rs 200 to issue the boarding pass.

— Anju Baroth (@anju_baroth) May 14, 2022