India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has proposed new rules that would allow airlines worldwide to impose flying bans of up to 30 days on passengers who engage in disruptive behaviour during a flight. Under the draft revision, airlines would no longer need to refer such cases to the existing independent committee before enforcing a short-term ban.
The DGCA’s updated definition of “disruptive acts” includes smoking on board, drinking alcohol on domestic flights, tampering with emergency exits, misusing safety equipment such as life jackets, staging protests or sloganeering, and any unruly behaviour linked to intoxication. Actions such as screaming, disturbing fellow passengers, or kicking and banging seats or tray tables have also been added to the list.
Airlines would be required to keep internal records of passengers penalised under these provisions and report each ban to the DGCA. However, these individuals would not be placed on the regulator’s formal No Fly List.
The proposed amendments—issued under Rule 133A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937—are open for stakeholder feedback. Currently, any case of unruly behaviour must be reviewed by an independent committee led by a retired District and Sessions Judge, which has up to 45 days to issue a decision before a ban can be imposed.
According to the DGCA, the revised framework aims to streamline the process and allow airlines to act more swiftly to protect passenger safety. Although such incidents are relatively rare, the regulator emphasised that even one disruptive passenger can compromise safety and disrupt flight operations. Airlines already follow a Standard Operating Procedure for managing and reporting these events.
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