Indigo Faces Passenger Outrage as Mass Cancellations Trigger Demands for Class Action

New Delhi: The continuous cancellation of Indigo Airlines flights and decline in services has troubled the passengers across the country. In the last four days, the airline has canceled hundreds of flights, due to which a large number of people are stranded at the airports. Fares have suddenly increased on many routes as the number of available flights has reduced.

Passengers said, now strict action is necessary

Many passengers say that this kind of carelessness should be stopped. Of the 32,547 people surveyed by 'Local Circles,' 87 percent believe that the class action provision of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 should be used against IndiGo. He says that this will prevent the airline from doing arbitrary cancellations in the future.

Only 3 percent of people surveyed said that there was no need for a class action, while 10 percent were unsure about their opinion. The direct question of the survey was whether the Consumer Protection Authority should initiate collective legal action against IndiGo.

Most complaints regarding refund

Local circles conducted this survey in 303 districts of the country. It was revealed that the biggest complaint of passengers is regarding refunds. Many people say that the airline had promised to refund the full amount, but in most of the cases the full amount was not received. Those who canceled the tickets on their own behalf or accepted the cancellation were also not given a full refund.

What is class action

Class action is a legal process in which a group of people with similar issues can collectively file a complaint against a company. This process has been used against airlines in many countries. For example, such lawsuits were filed on a large scale against Delta Airlines in 2023, Southwest Airlines in 2022, and American Airlines during Covid in 2020.

Passenger organizations say that in India too, there is a need to seriously consider this model so that consumers can get justice and airlines can be held accountable.

Main figures of the survey

• 28,315 passengers said there should be class action against IndiGo
• 3,254 people did not give any concrete answer
• 976 passengers said it is not needed