IndiGo will start compensating passengers affected by the large number of flight cancellations earlier this month from next week. The airline will issue travel vouchers worth Rs 10,000 starting December 26 to passengers who were badly affected and left stranded at airports for several hours on December 3, 4 and 5.
“We are extending the Rs 10,000 ‘Gesture of Care’ voucher to our severely impacted and heavily stranded customers at the airports from the noon on the 3rd until the end of day on the 05th of December,” IndiGo said in a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter).
Who is eligible for IndiGo’s ‘Gesture of Care’ voucher
“Starting 26th of December. our teams will begin reaching out to customers, of such identified and whose contact details are already available with us. Our teams will take care of the rest of the process and ensure this is completed smoothly for such customers,” the statement said.
Additionally, the airline has said that if any customer has not been contacted for any reason, a dedicated website will be available from January 1, where they can submit their journey details.
Voucher in addition to government-mandated compensation
This voucher is in addition to the compensation of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 that the airline is required to pay under government rule. The decision was taken during a high-level review meeting chaired by Aviation Secretary Samir Sinha, where the government also asked IndiGo to make sure all eligible passengers are paid without any further delay.
At the meeting, it was decided that payments should begin within a week for passengers who booked tickets directly through IndiGo’s website, as their details are already available with the airline.
IndiGo has also been told to collect passenger information from travel agents and online booking platforms and ensure that payments are made directly to affected customers. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will monitor whether the compensation reaches passengers, while the civil aviation ministry will track complaints through its Air Seva grievance portal.
Earlier, IndiGo Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta said the airline’s board will bring in external technical experts to work with the management and find out what caused the large-scale flight disruptions last week.
He said these experts will help ensure that such major operational failures do not happen again.
Meanwhile, IndiGo said all destinations across its network have been fully connected since December 8, and flight operations have stabilised from December 9.