According to sources, India’s aviation safety regulator will continue to closely monitor IndiGo’s operations despite imposing penalties on the airline business area.
Speaking to Businessline, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will continue to take monitoring measures for the foreseeable future, even as it routinely engages with the airline on various operational aspects, including its pilot recruitment plan.
“Regular meetings are being held with the airline every 15 days. Details of its operations are being reviewed,” the sources said.
Last month, the DGCA had formed a special eight-member oversight team after large-scale flight cancellations were reported in December 2025.
The team is led by Captain Vikram Sharma, Deputy Chief Flight Operations Inspector (Airlines), and includes senior inspectors and flight operations inspectors.
As per the current arrangements, two members of the team will be deployed on a daily rotation basis at IndiGo’s corporate headquarters to review key operational parameters such as fleet strength, pilot availability, network details, crew utilization, unplanned leaves, crew shortage and standby availability for cockpit and cabin crew at all bases.
Currently, the Center has directed IndiGo to reduce its flight schedule by 10 per cent across sectors to stabilize operations and reduce cancellations.
In addition, the DGCA has asked the airline to avoid flights on high-demand, high-frequency, single-leg routes and directed it to submit a revised flight schedule.
As a result, IndiGo lowered its capacity and revenue guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2026.
Additionally, sources said the airline is expected to submit a bank guarantee of ₹50 lakh by Monday (January 19, 2026).
On Saturday, the regulator slapped fines worth Rs 22.20 crore on IndiGo after an investigation into the large-scale flight disruptions.
Accordingly, of the total penalty, ₹1.80 crore was imposed as one-time systemic fines for multiple cases of violation of regulations.
The balance amount of ₹20.40 crore was levied for persistent non-compliance with revised flight duty time restriction norms for a period of 68 days from December 5, 2025 to February 10, 2026.
In addition to the fines, the DGCA has directed IndiGo to furnish a bank guarantee of ₹50 crore under the IndiGo Systemic Reform Assurance Scheme.
According to the regulator, the phased release of the bank guarantee will be linked to the implementation of corrective measures verified by the DGCA.
Notably, sources added that the fine imposed is the highest ever imposed in the history of the DGCA and represents the maximum allowable under the current legislation.
Published on January 18, 2026