Pressed to maximise revenues, private airlines have adopted a strict stand with flyers carrying excess baggage and started slapping steep charges for the slightest departure from the prescribed weight limit.

With Diwali just a week away, flyers carry gifts for their friends, families and associates. But they are being greeted with a strict demeanour at the check-in counters as per a report in the DNA.

“My check-in bag weighed 24kg, and I was surprised when the attendant asked me to pay Rs600 for the excess 4kg,” said Nerul resident Akash Sule, who took a Jet Airways flight to Delhi on Tuesday.

Though the official baggage weight limit for economy class is 20kg, all airlines usually make a concession up to an additional 5kg.

When Sule made a case for himself saying that he is not carrying any cabin baggage, the attendant curtly told him that he could remove the excess weight from the check-in bag and carry it with him in the cabin or he could pay up.

Dadar resident Smita Paranki not only had to pay Rs300 for carrying the extra 2kg, but also endure the 15-minute wait in the separate queue to make the payment.

“There was only one cashier for all the counters of Jet Airways and given the airline’s new-found zest to levy charges on every excess kilo, there were quite a few passengers in the queue,” said Paranki. “This stand may be legally correct, but it is unfair to spring such a surprise unannounced, that too during the festive season when people carry gifts.”

The airlines maintained that the charges are in keeping with the rules. “At Jet Airways, baggage allowances are always reflected in the tickets booked by guests, and as per the class/type of travel indicated in the booking detail. Excess baggage is charged over and above those allowances,” said the spokesperson.

With the leading private airlines raking in lakhs on account of excess baggage charges after the fresh initiative, other low-cost airlines are following suit to maximise revenues by the book.

“I was shocked when I was asked to pay for the excess baggage. It was just 3kg more than the prescribed weight limit,” said a passenger who travelled by a private low-cost airline.