Delhi, Jan 18: India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on January 17 imposed financial penalties amounting to ₹22.20 crore on IndiGo Airlines following large-scale flight cancellations and delays in December, while also issuing formal warnings to the airline’s top leadership, including Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers, for regulatory lapses.
In an unprecedented enforcement action, the DGCA has further directed IndiGo to submit a ₹50-crore bank guarantee as a safeguard to ensure sustained corrective measures and compliance with regulatory requirements. The move follows a detailed investigation into widespread disruptions that affected air travel nationwide during the first week of December.
According to the regulator, IndiGo cancelled 2,507 flights and delayed 1,852 others between December 3 and 5, impacting over three lakh passengers across multiple airports. The DGCA attributed the disruptions to excessive operational optimisation, lack of preparedness for regulatory changes, shortcomings in system software support, and weaknesses in management structure and operational control.
The regulator described the penalties as among the highest ever imposed on an Indian airline for service disruptions, noting that the scale of regulatory intervention was exceptional. A DGCA-appointed four-member committee, which submitted its report last month, identified systemic failures that led to the crisis. Following the findings, the regulator had already reduced IndiGo’s winter flight schedule by 10 per cent.
The bulk of the penalty—₹20.40 crore—has been imposed for continued non-compliance with revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms over a 68-day period from December 5, 2025, to February 10, 2026, calculated at ₹30 lakh per day. IndiGo had earlier cancelled hundreds of flights after failing to adequately prepare for the new FDTL norms, and was later granted temporary relaxation until February 10 to meet the requirements. Additional one-time penalties were levied on six counts under Rule 133A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937.
Separate fines of ₹30 lakh each were imposed for failures including ineffective implementation of flight time and rest compliance systems, inadequate buffer margins in crew rostering, improper delegation of operational control, and lapses by accountable management in ensuring DGCA-mandated standards. IndiGo’s Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras currently serves as the airline’s Accountable Manager.
To enforce long-term reforms, the DGCA has introduced the IndiGo Systemic Reform Assurance Scheme (ISRAS), under which the airline must pledge a ₹50-crore bank guarantee. The release of the guarantee will be phased and contingent on DGCA-verified reforms in leadership and governance, manpower planning and fatigue risk management, digital systems and operational resilience, and enhanced board-level oversight.
The regulator also issued warnings to CEO Pieter Elbers for insufficient oversight of flight operations and crisis handling, to the Accountable Manager for failing to assess the impact of the winter schedule and revised FDTL norms, and to the Senior Vice President of the Operations Control Centre, who has been directed to step away from current operational responsibilities. Additional warnings were issued to several senior officials involved in flight operations, crew planning and roster management.
Responding to the action, IndiGo said it has received the DGCA’s orders and that its board and management are taking the directives seriously. The airline stated that a comprehensive review of internal processes has been underway since the disruptions, with the aim of strengthening operational resilience and preventing a recurrence of such incidents.
