India’s First Ever No Fly List Released By Aviation Ministry:- India’s first ‘no fly list’ rules has been issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry. The new step has been taken in a bid to ensure safety and check unruly behavior on aircraft, said Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation.
The no-fly offence list will have 3 categories and action will be taken accordingly. The No Fly list bans unruly passengers from domestic air travel from three months to two years or beyond depending on the level of offense.
(Video Source: Republic World)
Earlier this year, an announcement with regard to the draft rules for a national ‘no-fly list’ following consultations from the public and the industry stakeholders on the guidelines was made by the government.
The draft guidelines followed Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad’s misbehavior with an Air India employee in March. Gaikwad was barred from flying by all domestic airlines before the ban was revoked. The flag carrier had placed a ban on flying the Shiv Sena MP, after the incident.
A similar ban was also imposed on the Shiv Sena MP by other private air passengers. However, the ban was subsequently lifted on advice of the Civil Aviation Ministry after Gaikwad expressed “regrets” in the Lok Sabha over the March 23 incident.
Currently -
- The Level 1 will include unruly physical gestures, verbal harassment and unruly inebriation. Offences under this will call for a passenger to be banned for up to 3 months.
- Level 2 will include physically abusive behavior (pushing, kicking, hitting, inappropriate touching). This will invite a ban of up to 6 months.
- Level 3 will include life threatening behavior – assaults, damage to aircraft systems etc. This will be punished with a ban of minimum 2 years.
(Image Source: Indiatoday.in)
“Decision will be taken by an independent committee under a retired District Judge within a period of 30 days of alleged offence,” said the Civil Aviation Minister.
Raju also said that to ensure the safety of air travel passengers, the Tokyo Convention has been kept in mind. He, however, added that the no-fly ban will be in addition to any statutory legal action that can be taken against the offender under existing laws.
The ‘no fly list’, got delayed as the government was figuring out the process to link the databases of different airlines so that a person put on ‘no-fly list’ by one airline is not able to fly on the other Indian carriers too. It was supposed to be implemented from early July.
As per the reports, a team of Directorate General of Civil Aviation, led by chief BS Bhullar, held a discussion with global regulators in Mongolia, before finalizing the rules for ‘no-fly list’.
The concept of ‘no fly list‘ was originated in the US with a motive to keep a check on people who are prohibited from boarding commercial aircraft for travel within, into, or out of the country. The list may also ban flying for people who resort to unruly behavior with fellow passengers or flight crew during the air travel, apart from dangerous criminals.
SUPRAJA
