NEW DELHI: Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said that he will be looking into the process where passengers are being charged an extra sum of Rs 200 for getting their boarding passes at the airport.
Scindia's comments come after a passenger took to Twitter to allege that domestic carrier SpiceJet had introduced a new rule where the airline is charging extra for issuing boarding passes at the check-in counter.
"new rule of SpiceJet. If you wish to get a boarding card at the check-in counter, you need to pay extra. This is like telling a customer In a restaurant that if you want to eat in a plate, you will be charged. Wonder what's consumer forum doing!@flyspicejet." wrote the passenger named Dr Neeti Shikha on Twitter.
Another person tagged Union aviation minister J M Scindia while terming the practice as “ridiculous”.
After several complaints by the passengers on social media, noted journalist Madhavan Narayanan retweeted the complaint and tagged the Aviation minister to which Scindia replied that he will examine the issue as soon as possible. "Agreed, will examine this asap!," he posted on Twitter.
Multiple airlines further faced an uproar from people on social media for asking to pay extra from passengers.
Checking in at the airport check-in counter costs Rs 200 per ticket and users complained that besides Spicejet, Indigo has done the same.
Many pointed out that it is unfair to consumers.
"This is against public policy of India- what if a consumer doesn't have a smartphone! Do you charge a consumer extra for a ticket that he already paid for!" another person said in another tweet.