<p>The government on Friday unveiled draft rules of a national no-fly list for unruly passengers, recommending a ban on flying from three months to two years or more. <br /><br />The move by the ministry of civil aviation to amend the existing Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on ‘Handling Unruly/Disruptive Passengers’ comes in the wake of a recent incident involving Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who repeatedly slapped an Air India manager.<br /><br />The draft rules propose graded punishment for offences that are categorised into three levels. A passenger may figure in the no-fly list for three months if he/she is found violating Level 1 offences like disruptive behaviour, physical gestures and verbal abuse.<br /><br />The airline will have an option to ban a flier for six months for Level 2 offences like physically abusive behaviour like pushing, kicking and sexual harassment.<br /><br />The flier may figure in the list for two or more years if he/she commits a Level 3 offence, categorised as life-threatening, including murderous assaults, choking and damaging aircraft operating systems, among others.<br /><br />In the case of repeat offenders, the person will be barred for twice the period of the previous ban. The no-fly list would also consist of people identified as security threats by the ministry of home affairs.<br /><br />“These provisions are airline specific. An airline can ban a passenger, but others can continue to fly the passenger if they desire so,” Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey told reporters, in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and his deputy Jayant Sinha.<br /><br />“We have put this in public domain and stakeholders have one month to present their views,” Raju said. <br />Sinha said passengers would be identified through Aadhaar, passport or any other document provided at the time of booking.<br /><br />On whether the list is only for domestic transporters, Choubey said if international carriers want to use this input, they are free to do so.<br /><br />This is for the first time in the history of civil aviation that a no-fly list is being proposed to address safety concerns. “No other country has a no-fly list based on safety. Some countries have such lists based on security,” Sinha said.<br /><br /><br />When an airline gets complaint of unruly/disruptive behaviour<br /><br />Incident should be referred to internal committee comprising : <br /><br />Retired district and sessions judge as chairman<br />Representative from a different scheduled airline<br />Representative from a passenger or consumer association or retired officer of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum<br /><br />Panel to decide on complaint within 10 days <br />Pending decision of the committee, airline can ban unruly passengers up to 10 days<br /><br />Aggrieved persons can approach Appellate Committee, set up by ministry of civil aviation, consisting of:<br />Retired high court judge <br /><br />Representative from passenger or consumer association or retired officer of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum Representative of the airline of the rank not below the vice president<br /><br />Decision of Appellate Committee shall be final as far as government is concerned. Any further appeal shall be taken up before a high court<br /></p>
<p>The government on Friday unveiled draft rules of a national no-fly list for unruly passengers, recommending a ban on flying from three months to two years or more. <br /><br />The move by the ministry of civil aviation to amend the existing Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on ‘Handling Unruly/Disruptive Passengers’ comes in the wake of a recent incident involving Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who repeatedly slapped an Air India manager.<br /><br />The draft rules propose graded punishment for offences that are categorised into three levels. A passenger may figure in the no-fly list for three months if he/she is found violating Level 1 offences like disruptive behaviour, physical gestures and verbal abuse.<br /><br />The airline will have an option to ban a flier for six months for Level 2 offences like physically abusive behaviour like pushing, kicking and sexual harassment.<br /><br />The flier may figure in the list for two or more years if he/she commits a Level 3 offence, categorised as life-threatening, including murderous assaults, choking and damaging aircraft operating systems, among others.<br /><br />In the case of repeat offenders, the person will be barred for twice the period of the previous ban. The no-fly list would also consist of people identified as security threats by the ministry of home affairs.<br /><br />“These provisions are airline specific. An airline can ban a passenger, but others can continue to fly the passenger if they desire so,” Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey told reporters, in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and his deputy Jayant Sinha.<br /><br />“We have put this in public domain and stakeholders have one month to present their views,” Raju said. <br />Sinha said passengers would be identified through Aadhaar, passport or any other document provided at the time of booking.<br /><br />On whether the list is only for domestic transporters, Choubey said if international carriers want to use this input, they are free to do so.<br /><br />This is for the first time in the history of civil aviation that a no-fly list is being proposed to address safety concerns. “No other country has a no-fly list based on safety. Some countries have such lists based on security,” Sinha said.<br /><br /><br />When an airline gets complaint of unruly/disruptive behaviour<br /><br />Incident should be referred to internal committee comprising : <br /><br />Retired district and sessions judge as chairman<br />Representative from a different scheduled airline<br />Representative from a passenger or consumer association or retired officer of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum<br /><br />Panel to decide on complaint within 10 days <br />Pending decision of the committee, airline can ban unruly passengers up to 10 days<br /><br />Aggrieved persons can approach Appellate Committee, set up by ministry of civil aviation, consisting of:<br />Retired high court judge <br /><br />Representative from passenger or consumer association or retired officer of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum Representative of the airline of the rank not below the vice president<br /><br />Decision of Appellate Committee shall be final as far as government is concerned. Any further appeal shall be taken up before a high court<br /></p>
