The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has fined IndiGo ₹22.2 crore for the large-scale flight disruptions seen in early December. The regulator has also asked the airline to submit a ₹50 crore bank guarantee to ensure it follows DGCA rules and fixes long-standing operational problems.
The penalty follows widespread chaos between December 3 and 5, when IndiGo cancelled and delayed thousands of flights across the country. According to DGCA, the disruptions happened because the airline was not properly prepared to implement new duty time rules for pilots.
In December alone, 2,507 IndiGo flights were cancelled and 1,852 were delayed. More than three lakh passengers were affected at airports nationwide.
The DGCA said IndiGo failed to plan rosters properly, did not maintain enough buffer pilots, and lacked a strong management structure to deal with the rule changes. Although the airline was later given time until February 10, 2026 to fully comply with the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules, DGCA still imposed penalties for 68 days of non-compliance.
The total fine works out to ₹30 lakh per day for the 68-day period. DGCA said the penalty covers multiple failures, including weak oversight by senior management, poor operational control, and inadequate systems to manage pilot fatigue and scheduling.
Apart from the financial penalty, DGCA has directed IndiGo to pledge a ₹50 crore bank guarantee under a new framework called the IndiGo Systemic Reform Assurance Scheme. The money will be released in stages only after DGCA verifies that specific reforms have been implemented.
These reforms include improvements in leadership and governance, better manpower planning and rostering, stronger digital systems, and tighter board-level oversight. Each stage will be independently checked by the regulator before the bank guarantee is partially released.
Following the December disruptions, the DGCA had already cut IndiGo’s winter flight schedule by 10 percent.
The action is among the toughest taken by DGCA against any airline in recent years and signals stricter enforcement to prevent large-scale passenger inconvenience in the future.