DGCA to get more teeth soon

The country's civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is likely to get new powers including that of imposing penalties for violations. At present, the watchdog can debar, suspend and even cancel the permission to fly for the carriers as well as individual pilots and engineers. However, it cannot impose any monetary penalty.

The government has started working on the proposal, which has been in the works for some time. A senior official from the civil aviation ministry said the procedure to amend the Aircraft Act, 1934 has been initiated and the idea is to have "more graded granular penal provisions" for the DGCA in dealing with violations.

The government is actively working on the proposal considering the country's domestic aviation sector has been seeing healthy double-digit growth for over two years and entry of new players are expected with the inauguration of more flights under the regional connectivity scheme.

At present, there are stringent provisions in place for the DGCA to deal with violations at various levels, which industry insiders feel are "very harsh". They include those related to airlines, pilots, crew members and other entities but DGCA does not have the power to cancel the license of an airline in case of a violation.

According to sources, the amendments will be tabled before the cabinet for approval and then is likely to be taken up during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament. The government is also expected to announce the rules for dealing with unruly passengers.