It has been 17 years since Indian skies were opened for private airlines, but there are still no regulations in place under which a citizen can file complaint against them, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Responding to an RTI application filed by Pune-based activist Vihar Dhurve who sought to know names and designation of officers who are in-charge of dealing with complaints filed by citizens against private airlines, the aviation regulator said, "No person has been designated as in-charge to deal with complaints against private airlines."

Dhurve had also sought to know if there were any notification, rules or regulations or citizens charter under which such complaints can be made by the private citizens. "There are no regulations issued by DGCA in this regard. As such there is no information available in this regard," the DGCA replied.s

The Directorate expressed its inability to access the complaints filed by the citizens with the private operators stating that there were no regulation in this regard either. Dhurve had filed his RTI application with the Civil Aviation Ministry which found it appropriate to be responded by the Office of the Director General of Civil Aviation.

India had opened its skies for private operators in 1994 by repealing the Air Corporation Act of 1953 which broke the monopoly of Air India and Indian Airlines.

The market share of private airlines has significantly increased since then as the latest DGCA figures show that all Indian carriers jointly operated a total of 5.25 lakh flights on the domestic network during 2010 with Air India contributing just 17 per cent of that.

PTI