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DGCA is taking a strict stand on the recent flight irregularities of IndiGo and has given only one time additional time of 24 hours to respond to the show cause notice issued to the CEO and Accountable Manager of the airline. Now IndiGo will have to give a detailed reply by 6 pm on 8th December, otherwise DGCA can take unilateral action on the basis of available records.
New Delhi. The country’s largest airline Indigo is constantly in the headlines these days. Recently, after massive delays, cancellations and operational irregularities in flights across the country, DGCA had issued a show cause notice seeking answers from the airlines. Now on this notice, DGCA has given additional time of 24 hours only once to IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Peter Elbers and Accountable Manager.
IndiGo management sent a letter to DGCA on December 7 saying that due to such a large number of flight operations and many unavoidable circumstances, they needed more time to prepare a detailed response. DGCA has accepted the request and extended the deadline to 6 pm on December 8, but also made it clear that no more time will be given.
What was the original notice of DGCA?
DGCA had started this action against IndiGo when there was huge chaos in IndiGo flights at many major airports of the country in the last week of November and beginning of December. There were complaints like delays ranging from 4 hours to 10 hours on many routes, flights being canceled repeatedly and passengers not being informed on time. In some cases, passengers had also raised the issue of shortage of ground staff by posting videos on social media.
Old problems are also becoming the reason
In recent months, IndiGo has come under scrutiny several times due to technical glitches, crew shortage and connecting flight mismanagement. Even in May 2025, DGCA had issued a show cause notice to the airline, when more than 35 flights were canceled in a single day citing techno operational reasons. Apart from this, after the smoke incident in an Indigo flight at Patna airport last year, DGCA had also ordered the airline to completely review the security procedures. Due to these old cases, DGCA appears to be taking a more strict stance this time.
Strict action will be taken if response is not given on time
DGCA has made it clear that if a complete reply is not received by 6 pm on December 8, then it will take unilateral action on the basis of available records. This may include penalties, operational caps, route monitoring and other stringent measures. DGCA says that its first priority is passenger safety, regulatory compliance and normalization of airline operations soon.
