Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Air India for not reporting incidents of passenger misbehaviour to the regulatory body and delaying in referring the matter to its Internal Committee.

The aviation body said the matter is a violation of applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements.

In a statement DGCA said that action was taken on the incident of passenger misbehaviour which occurred on AI-142 flight dated December 6, 2022, from Paris to New Delhi, came to the notice of DGCA wherein one passenger was caught smoking in the lavatory, was drunk and not adhering to the crew instructions; and another passenger allegedly relieved himself on a vacant seat and blanket of a fellow female passenger when she went to the lavatory.

“Enforcement action in the form of a financial penalty of Rs 10,00,000 has been imposed on Air India for not reporting the incident to DGCA and delaying in referring the matter to its Internal Committee, which is a violation of applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements,” the statement said.

DGCA had issued a show cause notice to the Accountable Manager of Air India as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations.

Air India submitted a reply to the show cause notice on January 23 and the same was examined.

This is the second time in less than a week that the watchdog has taken enforcement action against the airline in connection with unruly passenger behaviour.