India’s aviation regulator is preparing to digitise the way airlines and other aviation stakeholders report safety incidents, a move that could make the country’s safety oversight system faster, more transparent and data-driven as air traffic continues to grow.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is developing a digital platform on the eGCA portal for mandatory occurrence reporting, allowing incident reports to be submitted and processed electronically.
Digital reporting aims to improve safety oversight
Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the DGCA already follows a multi-layered safety oversight mechanism covering airlines, airports and other aviation operators.
The regulator currently monitors compliance through regulatory audits, night surveillance, ramp inspections, spot checks and special audits conducted across the aviation ecosystem.
Occurrence reports form an important part of this framework. These include mandatory reporting of safety-related events such as technical defects, operational lapses, bird strikes, runway incursions and other incidents that could affect flight safety. Such reports help the regulator identify recurring risks, analyse trends and issue corrective directions where necessary.
“DGCA is presently in the process of introducing a digital platform for occurrence reporting on the eGCA portal to facilitate electronic submission and processing of mandatory occurrence reports, thereby improving the timeliness and efficiency of incident reporting,” he said in a written reply, according to PTI.
The proposed platform is expected to replace manual or fragmented reporting processes with a centralised digital system, allowing faster submission, easier tracking and more efficient processing of occurrence reports. The move is also expected to improve data availability for safety analysis as India’s aviation sector continues to expand.
Safety monitoring expands as aviation sector grows
India’s civil aviation sector has witnessed rapid growth over the past few years, with airlines expanding fleets, airports increasing capacity and passenger traffic reaching record levels. As operations become more complex, timely reporting and analysis of safety incidents become increasingly important for preventing recurring issues.
The DGCA’s existing surveillance framework includes routine inspections as well as targeted audits to verify compliance with Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) across airlines and airport operators. Digitising occurrence reporting is expected to complement these oversight measures by reducing reporting delays and enabling faster regulatory response whenever safety events are reported.
Government reiterates stand on airline fares
In a separate written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol clarified that the government continues to follow a market-driven approach to domestic airfares.
He said ticket prices are primarily determined by demand and supply, while factors such as seat occupancy, fuel costs, aircraft capacity and seasonal demand also influence airfare levels.
“The government generally refrains from regulating airfares to maintain market competitiveness, however, it retains vigilant oversight role, intervening in exceptional circumstances by redistributing capacity across various sectors and imposing temporary fare caps, such as during the Covid pandemic, festivals like Maha Kumbh or other extraordinary instances like Pahalgam incident and the Indigo flight disruptions,” Mohol said, according to PTI.