How to file a DGCA / airline complaint — complete 2026 guide

In FY 2024-25, AirSewa received around 2.6 lakh grievances (Ministry of Civil Aviation Annual Report). About 78% were resolved within the 30-day SLA — overwhelmingly in favour of the passenger when documentation was clean. The portal works precisely because the airline knows DGCA can audit its complaint resolution metric.

The Indian aviation grievance ecosystem has multiple layers because there is no single “Aviation Ombudsman”. You need to know which forum does what before you waste a month filing in the wrong place.

• Airline's own grievance cell (Tier-1): Every scheduled airline must publish a Nodal Officer and an Appellate Authority under DGCA's CAR Section 3 Series M Part II. They have a 30-day SLA to respond. You must complain here first; AirSewa and DGCA will bounce your complaint back if you skip this step.
• AirSewa (Tier-2): The Ministry of Civil Aviation's online citizen-engagement portal at https://airsewa.gov.in. It does not adjudicate. It logs your complaint, forwards it to the airline's nodal officer with a copy to DGCA, and tracks SLA compliance. The airline replies via the portal. DGCA monitors the response in aggregate.
• DGCA (Tier-3, regulator): https://dgca.gov.in handles safety complaints (a pilot violating SOPs, a near-miss, an unsafe aircraft, a crew duty time violation), licensing issues (your DGCA medical, RPL/CPL), and pattern-of-non-compliance complaints (e.g., one airline routinely cancelling Tier-2 routes). DGCA is not a small-claims court.
• Consumer Forum (Tier-4, monetary recovery): Under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, you file at the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) for claims up to ₹50 lakh, State Commission for ₹50 lakh – ₹2 crore, NCDRC for above ₹2 crore. This is where you actually get a money decree. AirSewa cannot order the airline to pay you. A District Forum can.
• NCRP (https://cybercrime.gov.in): For ticket fraud through fake websites pretending to be Air India / IndiGo / SpiceJet — file here for cyber fraud.

The legal anchors are: the Aircraft Act 1934 and Aircraft Rules 1937 (DGCA's parent statute), the Carriage by Air Act 1972 (which incorporates the Montreal Convention 1999 for international carriage — capping baggage liability at ~1,288 SDR ≈ ₹1.4 lakh per passenger), and the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) issued by DGCA — particularly Section 3 Series M Part IV (the August 2024 revision sets passenger compensation for denied boarding, cancellations, and delays) and Section 3 Series M Part VI (lost / damaged baggage).

Every airline publishes a customer grievance form on its website and mobile app. The 30-day domestic limitation comes from the airline's contract of carriage; the 21-day international limitation is statutory under Article 31 of the Montreal Convention (incorporated by the Carriage by Air Act 1972).

• IndiGo: https://www.goindigo.in → “Help” → “Customer Service Form”. Nodal officer: nodal.officer@goindigo.in.
• Air India: https://www.airindia.com → “Contact Us” → “Feedback Form”. Nodal: nodalofficer@airindia.com.
• SpiceJet: https://www.spicejet.com → “Help” → “Customer Care”. Nodal: nodalofficer@spicejet.com.
• Akasa Air: https://www.akasaair.com → “Support” → “Contact Us”. Nodal: nodalofficer@akasaair.com.
• Vistara / Air India Express: post-merger, both routed through Air India nodal channel from late 2024.

Save: PNR, ticket PDF, boarding pass scan, all SMS / emails, baggage tag, photos of damaged baggage with timestamp. You will need every single one of these later.

If you got no reply, or an unsatisfactory reply, in 30 days, file again with the Appellate Authority — usually the Vice President or Director of Customer Experience. Their email is published on the airline's “Grievance Redressal” page (mandatory disclosure under DGCA CAR Section 3 Series M Part II).

• Go to https://airsewa.gov.in
• Register with mobile + OTP (or login via DigiLocker / MeriPehchaan).
• “File a Grievance” → choose category (Flight Cancellation / Delay, Baggage, Refund, Denied Boarding, Behaviour of Staff, Frequent Flyer, Disability Assistance, etc.).
• Enter PNR + flight number + date + airline + brief description (300 words is enough — keep it factual).
• Upload supporting documents (boarding pass, SMS screenshot, refund denial email, baggage tag).
• Submit. You get a Grievance Reference Number (e.g., AIRSEWA/2025/03/00045678).

The portal auto-forwards to the airline's nodal officer with a copy to DGCA. SLA is 30 days for resolution.

• Login → “View Status” → if airline closed the ticket without action, click “Reopen” within 14 days and write your reason.
• After 60 days from original filing, you can mark it “Escalated to DGCA” — the matter then moves to DGCA's grievance cell (Pawan Hans Tower, Safdarjung, New Delhi).

• Go to https://dgca.gov.in → “Complaint” → “File a Complaint”.
• Choose category: Aviation Safety / Air Safety Reporting / Flight Crew Conduct / Flight Engineer / Airworthiness / Environmental / Other Regulatory.
• For safety reports (a near-miss, a faulty aircraft component, a flight crew that flew while ill) the right channel is the Voluntary Safety Reporting System (VSRS) — anonymity protected under the Aircraft (Safety) Rules 2017.
• For pattern complaints (an airline systematically cancelling certain routes), DGCA's Air Transport Directorate is the addressee.

If the airline owes you fare refund, CAR-mandated compensation, hotel/food costs during a delay, or consequential damages (lost meeting, wedding missed), the only body that can pass a money decree is a Consumer Commission.

• District (DCDRC): claims up to ₹50 lakh. Court-fee ₹100 to ₹500 (e-filing on https://edaakhil.nic.in is fee-exempt below ₹5 lakh).
• State Commission (SCDRC): ₹50 lakh – ₹2 crore.
• National Commission (NCDRC): above ₹2 crore.
• Limitation: 2 years from the date of cause of action (§69 Consumer Protection Act 2019).
• Format: complaint as per Schedule II of CPA 2019; affidavit; documents; demand draft for fee.
• Hearing: typically 6-18 months at District level for simple airline disputes.

Keep checking the portal weekly. Take screenshots of every status change — “Forwarded to airline”, “Action taken”, “Closed”. When you eventually move to Consumer Forum, the AirSewa trail is prime evidence of (a) you exhausted internal remedies, and (b) the airline's response or absence thereof.

+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Cancellation < 2 weeks but >      | Refund + compensation:               |
| 24 hrs from departure, no         |   - Up to 1 hr block time: ₹5,000    |
| alternate flight within 1 hr      |   - 1-2 hr block time:    ₹7,500     |
| of original time                  |   - 2+ hr block time:    ₹10,000     |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Cancellation < 24 hrs from        | Refund + meals + hotel (if night     |
| departure                         | stay forced) + compensation as above |
|                                   | doubled for international (cap       |
|                                   | ₹20,000)                             |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Denied boarding (overbooking) –   | Alternate flight within 1 hr → no    |
| airline at fault                  | compensation. Otherwise:             |
|                                   |   - Domestic: ₹10,000 OR fare,       |
|                                   |     whichever is less                |
|                                   |   - International (block time ≤ 2hr):|
|                                   |     ₹10,000                          |
|                                   |   - International (>2 hr): ₹20,000   |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Delay 2+ hr (block time < 2.5 hr) | Free meals & refreshments            |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Delay 6+ hr (notified > 24 hr     | Alternate flight OR full refund      |
| in advance)                       | (passenger's choice)                 |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Delay 24+ hr (overnight)          | Hotel accommodation + transfers      |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Lost baggage (international)      | Up to 1,288 SDR (~₹1.4 lakh) under   |
|                                   | Montreal Convention Art. 22(2)       |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Lost baggage (domestic)           | Per CAR Section 3 Series M Part VI:  |
|                                   | ₹450 per kg of checked baggage,      |
|                                   | maximum ₹20,000                      |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| RTI to PIO DGCA / Ministry of     | ₹10 by IPO / DD. BPL = free.         |
| Civil Aviation                    |                                      |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Consumer Forum filing fee         | Below ₹5 lakh: NIL via e-Daakhil     |
| (DCDRC)                           | ₹5L – ₹10L: ₹200                     |
|                                   | ₹10L – ₹20L: ₹400                    |
|                                   | ₹20L – ₹50L: ₹500                    |
+-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+

Force majeure carve-out: if the cancellation is genuinely caused by weather, ATC delay, security closure, political disturbance, or industrial action, the airline owes only the refund — no fixed compensation under CAR Section 3.1.5©. This is the most-abused exemption — airlines often label “technical” cancellations as “operational” to cite force majeure. AirSewa scrutinises the exact reason given.

• Filed beyond limitation. 21 days from arrival for international baggage / delay claims (Montreal Article 31). 30 days under the contract of carriage for domestic. After this the airline has a clean defence.
• Boarding pass / ticket / receipts not preserved. Photos of the SMS or e-mail are usually accepted, but a missing boarding pass scan kills denied-boarding compensation claims.
• Booked through an OTA (MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, Yatra, EaseMyTrip). AirSewa will accept the complaint, but the airline frequently bounces it back saying “passenger should approach booking agent”. You can complain in parallel against the OTA on the National Consumer Helpline (1915) under the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020.
• Already started a credit card chargeback. Some airlines auto-close the AirSewa ticket the moment a chargeback dispute is raised, treating it as a duplicate. Pick one channel, not both.
• “Force majeure” cited. If the cancellation is labelled weather / ATC / security, demand a written reason letter under CAR. Without that letter, the force majeure defence collapses.
• Refund processed but not credited. Often the airline issues to the original payment instrument; if your card has expired, the refund bounces. Ask the airline for the ARN (Acquirer Reference Number) and chase your bank.
• Ticket on a codeshare flight. If you flew Lufthansa marketed by Air India, the operating carrier handles the complaint — Air India's role is limited.
• Frequent flyer / loyalty point disputes. AirSewa accepts these but resolution rates are below 50% — these are contractual, not regulatory, and DGCA can't enforce.

• 30 days at nodal, then 30 days at appellate. Mandatory before AirSewa.

• https://airsewa.gov.in. 30-day SLA. Reopen within 14 days if reply unsatisfactory.

• https://dgca.gov.in → “Complaint”. Postal address: Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Opp Safdarjung Airport, Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110003.

• https://pgportal.gov.in → ministry “Ministry of Civil Aviation”. Useful when AirSewa is silent past 30 days.

• District / State / NCDRC. The only forum that can give you a money decree. File parallel to AirSewa, not after — limitation is 2 years.

DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation are public authorities under §2(h) of the RTI Act 2005. Airlines themselves are not — Air India was privatised in January 2022, IndiGo / SpiceJet / Akasa are private companies. So the RTI you file is about the airline, addressed to the regulator that holds records on the airline.

RTI helps here when:

• You want the airline's compliance history with DGCA — number of CAR violation notices issued, action taken, penalties levied. This is held by DGCA's Air Transport Directorate.
• Your AirSewa ticket has been “closed” without action and you want to see the internal note sheet — file RTI with the AirSewa cell, Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• You want to know what DGCA Aviation Safety inspection report said about a specific aircraft tail number after a near-miss.
• You want the complete set of CARs applicable to your dispute (most are public on dgca.gov.in already).
• You want to know how many denied-boarding compensation cases were paid by airline X in the last quarter — a transparency / pattern question that helps your Consumer Forum case.

RTI does NOT help here when:

• You want the airline ordered to pay you ₹16,500 — DGCA has no statutory power to compute and enforce individual compensation. That is the Consumer Forum's job.
• You want a copy of internal commercial decisions of the airline (price algorithm, cancellation patterns) — these are commercial data of a private company, not held by DGCA.
• You want to “speed up” your AirSewa ticket — RTI is a parallel transparency right, not an expediter.
• You want the personal contact of an individual passenger or pilot — exempt under §8(1)(j) (personal information).
• You want safety reports under the Voluntary Safety Reporting System — exempt by design under the Aircraft (Safety) Rules 2017 to encourage candid reporting.

A clean RTI to PIO, DGCA Air Transport Directorate, asking “Number of CAR Section 3 Series M Part IV violation notices issued to IndiGo in FY 2024-25, with the action taken in each case” — comes back in 30 days for ₹10. That report becomes powerful evidence at your Consumer Forum hearing.

For the individual cancellation refund route (claiming the fare back, not regulatory action) see How to claim a flight cancellation refund — complete 2026 guide.

Q. My flight got cancelled because of fog. Am I entitled to compensation?
No fixed compensation under CAR — fog is force majeure. But you are still entitled to a full refund if you don't want the rescheduled flight, or to alternate transport if you do. Demand a written reason note from the airline.

Q. I missed my international connecting flight because the first leg was delayed. Both tickets were on the same PNR. What can I claim?
Under Montreal Article 19, the operating airline of the delayed leg is liable for the missed connection — including hotel, alternate routing, and consequential damages up to ~5,346 SDR (~₹5.7 lakh). File on AirSewa and in Consumer Forum.

Q. The airline says my boarding pass was issued, but I was offloaded at the gate. Is this denied boarding?
Yes — that's classic involuntary denied boarding under CAR Section 3 Series M Part IV. Compensation is mandatory. Insist on the offload reason in writing at the airport itself.

Q. I booked through MakeMyTrip and they say “approach the airline”.
File against MakeMyTrip on the National Consumer Helpline (1915) under the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020 for failure of post-sale customer support, and file against the airline on AirSewa. Both forums in parallel.

Q. My checked-in baggage is damaged but I only noticed at home.
Under Montreal Article 31, you have 7 days from receipt of baggage to file a written complaint about damage (21 days for delay, 2 years for outright loss). Going home and “noticing later” usually defeats the claim — always inspect at the airport and ask for a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) before leaving.

Q. Can I file a class-action style complaint if a flight got cancelled with 200 passengers stuck?
The Consumer Protection Act 2019 §35(1)© allows a complaint by “one or more consumers, where there are numerous consumers having the same interest” — with permission of the Forum. AirSewa, however, only handles individual grievances; it doesn't aggregate.

Q. What is the difference between AirSewa and DGCA's complaint portal?
AirSewa is the citizen-engagement portal (Tier-2) that auto-forwards your complaint to the airline; DGCA's portal (Tier-3) is the regulator's own complaint receiver, used mostly for safety / licensing / pattern issues. Most passenger complaints go via AirSewa first.

Q. Will RTI to DGCA force the airline to pay me?
No. RTI gets you information — the airline's compliance record, the action DGCA took, the regulatory framework. It does not get you a money order. For money, file in Consumer Forum.

• How to claim a flight cancellation refund — complete 2026 guide
• How to file a consumer complaint online — full guide
• RTI in 12 simple steps — for first-time filers
• All Indian government helplines — one master directory
• RTI forms + state-wise fee chart

Last reviewed: 26 April 2026 by RTI Wiki editorial team. DGCA CARs are amended periodically — verify the latest Series M Part IV revision on dgca.gov.in or write to admin@bighelpers.in if a figure looks stale.