Scindia to examine matter of passengers being charged for boarding pass generation

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said that he will examine the matter of passengers being charged extra for generating boarding passes at the airport. 

Scindia's comments come after a passenger took to Twitter to allege that domestic carrier SpiceJet had introduced a new rule where the airline is charging extra for issuing boarding cards 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. Wonder what's consumer forum doing!@flyspicejet." wrote the passenger named Dr. Neeti Shikha on Twitter. 

"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!," the person added in another tweet.  

Meanwhile, noted journalist Madhavan Narayanan retweeted the complaint and tagged Scindia. Scindia replied that he will examine the issue as soon as possible. "Agreed, will examine this asap!," he posted on the micro-blogging site.

Scindia also recently took cognizance of another airport incident where he had said that he will investigate the alleged mistreatment by an IndiGo staff on a specially-abled child at Ranchi Airport. 

"There is zero tolerance towards such behaviour. No human being should have to go through this! Investigating the matter by myself, post which appropriate action will be taken," Scindia had said

On May 7, an IndiGo manager did not allow a specially-abled child to board a flight at Ranchi Airport. According to the eye-witness account shared on Twitter, IndiGo allegedly announced that the specially-abled child was a flight risk. He even compared the child's condition, teenage assertiveness, to that of drunken passengers. He judged the child unfit for travel. Ultimately, the flight departed for Hyderabad, leaving behind the child and his parents.

Meanwhile, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) sought a report from IndiGo over the incident.

Also read: IndiGo discrimination row: ‘Will investigate matter myself,’ says Scindia