Bengaluru lawyer outraged by Indigo's Rs 50 'cute charge': 'Do you charge users for being cute?'

(Left) The fare breakup for Shrayan Singh's Indigo flight from Lucknow to Bengaluru/ (Image credit: @_shrayanshsingh/X, Unsplash)

A Bengaluru-based lawyer questioned Indigo Airlines on its fee structure after he was charged Rs 50 as "cute charge" for his Lucknow to Bengaluru flight worth Rs 10,000.

Taking to X, Shrayansh Singh addressed a post to the airline. "Dear Indigo, what is this 'Cute Fee'? Do you charge users for being cute? Or do you charge because you believe that your aeroplanes are cute?" he wrote, adding questions on other components such as user development fee and aviation security fee.

"What is this 'User Development Fee'? How do you develop me when I travel in your aeroplane? What is this 'Aviation Security Fee'? Am I not paying taxes to the government for ensuring my safety when I travel? Or has
Ministry of Civil Aviation outsourced aviation security to businesses? Kindly respond, because ye tum logo ka zyada ho raha hai ab (you are stretching things too much now).

In a separate tweet, Singh commented that "space has been commodified to its extreme by airlines" since passengers are also made to pay extra for their seat choices.

Dear @IndiGo6E ,

1. What is this 'Cute Fee'? Do you charge users for being cute? Or do you charge because you believe that your aeroplanes are cute?

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2. What is this 'User Development Fee'? How do you develop me when I travel in your aeroplane?

3. What is this 'Aviation… pic.twitter.com/i4jWvXh6UM

— Shrayansh Singh (@_shrayanshsingh) August 19, 2024

Responding to Singh's post, which had gathered close to 2.5 million views by Tuesday afternoon, Indigo said, "Hi, we would like to inform you that the Cute charges refer to the Common User Terminal Equipment charge. It is basically the amount that is charged for the use of metal-detecting machines, escalators, and other equipments that are being used at the airport."

Soon, several other Indigo flyers had similar questions for the airline.

Dear @IndiGo6E,

1. What exactly is the 'Cute Charge'?

2. Can you explain the 'Aviation Security Fee'? Aren't my taxes already covering safety measures?

3. What does the 'User Development Fee' cover, and how does it benefit me as a traveler on your airline? pic.twitter.com/OawVkdqcKW

— Abbas Choudhury

"CUTE is Common User Terminal Equipment. It’s levied by the airport to the airlines for using the check-in desk accompanying equipment. User Development Fee or UDF is the fee decided by AERA that airports can charge for building or improving the airport," it wrote. "Airports are guaranteed a rate of return on investment. So lower the traffic higher the fee. Higher the traffic higher the profits. Observe, there is always some construction going on at the airport."

"Aviation Security Fee previously a part of PSF Passenger Service Fee is charged and passed to CISF or other security agencies. It is also used to cross-subsidise smaller airports that don’t have enough passengers to pay for their CISF contingent. After all every MP wants an airport in their backyard," it added.