Govt to review airlines' decision to charge for all seats during web check-in
New Delhi, Nov 26 : The government Monday said it was reviewing airlines' decision to charge passengers for any of the seats selected at the time of web check-in to ascertain whether the move is in compliance with existing rules.
No-frills airline IndiGo, which has a domestic market share of nearly 43 per cent, has been levying charges for web check-in from November 14. Against the backdrop of questions being raised about IndiGo's move, especially on social media, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has said it would review the decision.
The ministry has noted that airlines are now charging for web check-in for all seats. "We are reviewing this fees to see whether they fall within the unbundled pricing framework," it added.
It could not be immediately be ascertained whether other budget carriers have also revised their policies for web check-in.
Under IndiGo's revised policy, all seats are chargeable for web check-in. "Alternatively you may check-in at the airport for free. Seats will be assigned as per the availability," the airline had said.
By way of web check-in, passengers verify their presence on a flight online and seats can also be chosen.
Earlier, IndiGo passengers were able to choose certain seats, including aisle seats, free of cost while making the selection online. Now, the airline is charging for every seat selection made through the web.
Grappling with spiralling operational costs, airlines have been looking at ways to increase their revenues from ancillary services. In the latest September quarter, all the three listed carriers -- IndiGo, SpiceJet and Jet Airways -- were in the red.
IndiGo reported a loss at Rs 651 crore in the three months ended September, mainly impacted by high fuel cost and rupee depreciation.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
