New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) To address air travellers' grievances more promptly, the civil aviation ministry has set up the Passenger Assistance Control Room (PACR) that functions round-the-clock to resolve
the issues.
Officials from the ministry, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), airlines and Airports Authority of India (AAI), are among those working at the centre, which monitors operations, attends to passenger calls and coordinates real-time assistance.
The PACR or the control room was operationalised on December 10 in the wake of the operational disruptions at IndiGo. Besides, there have been flight disruptions and delays due to fog and other issues.
Elaborating on the control room, Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said there has been a marked improvement in grievance redressal and there has been a positive response from air passengers and other stakeholders.
According to the ministry, air travellers grievances raised through various channels are being addressed through the PACR in the national capital, allowing timely resolution through close coordination with airline representatives.
In a statement, Sinha said the collaborative approach ensures timely information dissemination, effective facilitation and prompt grievance redressal.
"Over 13,000 passenger grievances, received through AirSewa, social media and call channels, have been resolved, with cases expedited and prioritised through close monitoring at the Passenger Assistance Control Room (PACR)," he said.
During a visit to the PARC on Sunday afternoon, some of the people who are part of the control room shared their experience.
The complaints vary from flight cancellations to lost baggage to even meal not being served onboard.
IndiGo's Director Customer Experience Pratik Arjun Sen said there is a mixed bag of queries from passengers and the grievances are sought to be resolved at the earliest.
Since the disruptions earlier this month, the customer experience team has been working hard to address the issues, including ticket refunds, and there has been a significant improvement, he noted.
Ajeet Tiwari, Assistant Manager of Operations at SpiceJet, said flight delays are among the grievances flagged by passengers and at the centre, the work flow is smooth with issues getting addressed.
Lisa Agarwal, who is part of the Customer Happiness Team at Air India Express, said the grievances include those related to lost or damaged baggage, meal not being served onboard a flight.
The grievances are sought to be resolved within 72 hours of receiving them, she added.
Akasa Air's Senior Customer Service Agent Shahbaj Alam mentioned the queries are mainly related to service issues as well as flight cancellations and ticket refunds, and at the centre, the airline gets at least 15-16 queries daily.
Ravneet Kaur, an official with the ministry, said the enquiries are mainly about ticket refunds and lost baggage, and the grievances are looked into promptly.
All of them are working at the centre, which is operational 24x7.
In the statement, Sinha said issues such as frequent flight delays, inadequate or delayed refunds, long queues, poor passenger facilities at airports, and incidents of lost baggage have continued to affect passenger experience across the aviation ecosystem.
"These concerns highlighted the need for a structured, systematic, and coordinated response rather than ad-hoc interventions," he added. PTI RAM TRB
