Shergill praises Scindia for taking action against IndiGo

New Delhi, May 29 Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill on Sunday praised his former colleague in the party and now Union Minister of civil aviation for imposing fine on the airline which had denied boarding to a special child.

Shergill tweeted, "Good decision by @DGCAIndia @JM_Scindia for imposing fine of Rs 5 Lac on Indigo for not letting a child with special needs board the aircraft - Concept of "no frills" airline does not & cannot mean insensitive "customer service" !"

Civil aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on low-cost carrier IndiGo for denying boarding to a specially-abled child at Ranchi airport on May 7.

The Hyderabad-bound flight left behind the child and their parents at the Ranchi airport.

Citing the event as "inappropriate handling" of passengers, a DGCA panel had decided to issue a show cause notice to the airline.

While imposing the fine on Saturday, the regulator said the behaviour of the IndiGo ground staff and the handling of the child was "deficient" and it "exacerbated the situation".

"A more compassionate handling would have smoothened nerves, and calmed the child. It would have obviated the need for the extreme step resulting in denied boarding to the passengers," it said in a note.

"Special situations deserve extraordinary response but the airline staff failed to rise up to the occasion and in the process committed lapses," it added in the note.