NEW DELHI: The government is looking into a move by private domestic carrier IndiGo to charge for seats booked in advance through the web check-in feature. The move has drawn outrage from fliers.
Following the outpouring of public anger on social media, the airline tweaked its policy saying that that the pricing is only for advance selection of seats.
The Civil Aviation Ministry issued a statement saying it had noted the that airlines is levying a charge for web check-in for all seats. "We are reviewing these charges to see whether they fall within the unbundled pricing network," the statement read. Unbundled pricing allows passengers to pay for exactly what they want.
In a tweet on Sunday, IndiGo said, "all seats will be chargeable" under its new online check-in policy. However, on Monday, it clarified that "the pricing is only for advance selection of seats" and "the airline has neither changed its web check-in policy, nor is there any charge for web check-in". The clarification came after the statement by the Civil Aviation ministry.
Check-ins at airports will not be charged, the airline said, adding "If the passengers have no particular preference for seats and would not like to pay for advance seat selection, they can either reserve any free seats available at the time of web check-in or will, of course, be assigned seats at the time of airport check-in."
IndiGo said its new policy was in line with what airlines do globally. It's officials further said it was the Directorate General of Civil Aviation that had allowed unbundling of services.
The additional fee for web check-in could increase the load of passengers at major airports across the country. Many airports are currently operating beyond capacity and the new policy could see an even longer queue of passengers waiting for their turns to check in.
In another move, Jet Airways has informed its JetPrivilege loyalty programme members, who fly economy, that they will no longer have access to its lounge.
Most of the airlines including Indigo, Jet and others have reported losses in the last quarter. They have also come out with a series of offers to attract more passengers.