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Government Plans To Provide Penal Powers To DGCA

The government plans to provide DGCA with powers to impose penalties on entities violating rules.



Visitors operate an Airbus SE Pilot Transition (APT) simulator at the Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC), a joint venture owned by Airbus and Singapore Airlines Ltd., during a media tour at the Seletar Aerospace Park in Singapore. (Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg)
Visitors operate an Airbus SE Pilot Transition (APT) simulator at the Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC), a joint venture owned by Airbus and Singapore Airlines Ltd., during a media tour at the Seletar Aerospace Park in Singapore. (Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg)

The government plans to provide the Directorate General of Civil Aviation with powers to impose penalties on entities violating rules.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said a proposal to amend the Aircraft Act, 1934 to make provisions for imposing penalties by the civil aviation regulator on service providers for violations of the Act and the aircraft rules have been moved.

“The amendment has been proposed as a result of International Civil Aviation Organization audit finding wherein it has been stated that the DGCA does not have the authority to impose penalties,” he added.

The ICAO is the U.N. aviation watchdog.

Stringent provisions are in place that allows the DGCA to deal with violations at various levels, including those related to airlines, pilots, crew members and other entities.

The watchdog can debar, suspend and even cancel the permission to fly for the carriers as well as individual pilots and engineers. It, however, cannot impose any monetary penalty.

Responding to another question, the minister said taxation on global air tickets is “as per the prevalent laws in India”.

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