The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday (February 17) proposed new rules to address domestic unruly passengers. As part of the new rules, the regulator has proposed a change that would make flying bans enforced after a formal inquiry automatically apply to all domestic airlines, increasing the consequences for those placed on the national no-fly list.
Under the draft, once an independent committee set up by an airline confirms an incident and determines the level of offence, every carrier can “impose a flying ban on the unruly passenger” for a period of 30 days, which will apply to all domestic flights.
Earlier, domestic airlines were allowed to place unruly passengers on an internal no-fly list, but a carrier’s internal no‑fly list did not bind other airlines.
Beyond One Airline
Airlines will now have more time to handle passenger issues, as under the new draft, the decision-making period for airlines has been increased to 45 days, allowing for a temporary ban of the same length while cases are reviewed. This means passengers could be kept off flights for a longer time before a final decision. The previous rules required them to form a committee led by a retired judge, with a temporary ban on passengers lasting no more than 10 days during investigations.
The aviation regulator has on Tuesday (February 17) issued a draft revision of its Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR Section 3, Series M, Part VI) on “Handling of Unruly / Disruptive Passengers in Aircraft”.
‘Disruptive’ vs ‘Unruly’
The draft also introduces a new category called “disruptive passenger,” which gives airlines the power to impose a flying ban of up to 30 days for certain actions on board, without needing to consult an independent committee first.
These actions include smoking, drinking alcohol without permission, misusing emergency exits or safety equipment, protesting or making loud noises in the cabin, and behaviours that disturb other passengers, like screaming or kicking the seat in front. While these passengers won’t be added to the official no-fly list maintained by the DGCA, airlines are required to keep track of these incidents in their own database and report each ban to the regulator.
The proposals come after a visible rise in reported cases and public scrutiny of airlines’ responses. A government reply in Parliament in 2025 disclosed that more than 375 passengers had been placed on the national no‑fly list over the previous five years, with alcohol‑related aggression and refusal to follow crew instructions among the most common triggers. In a 2023 case involving an in‑flight urination incident on an Air India flight, legal and aviation experts publicly criticised both the passenger’s conduct and the handling of the episode, arguing that existing rules were not being used consistently as a deterrent.
The government had first created a formal no‑fly list for unruly passengers in 2017, after several high‑profile cases of in‑flight misbehaviour, with offences divided into three levels and bans ranging from up to three months to a minimum of two years depending on severity.
The draft CAR also reiterates that the Ministry of Home Affairs may separately provide a confidential list of individuals considered national security risks for inclusion in the no‑fly list, who can be barred from flying as long as they are deemed a security threat. Passengers placed on the no‑fly list by the independent committee will be able to appeal within 60 days to an appellate panel chaired by a retired High Court judge, while those classified as “disruptive” and banned directly by an airline may appeal within 15 days to the airline‑level independent committee.