Fresh trouble for IndiGo: Sedition complaint filed against airline for not accepting Indian currency

New Delhi: A sedition complaint was on Tuesday filed against the Indigo Airlines for refusing to accept Indian currency.

Delhi-based Pramod Kumar Jain filed a complaint against IndiGo Airlines under Section 124 (A) of the Indian Penal Code after its crew allegedly refused to accept Indian currency when he ordered food. The complaint has been registered at Sarojini Nagar Police Station.

As per the complaint, Pramod Kumar Jain was travelling from Bangalore to Dubai in an IndiGo flight number 6E95 on November 10. Since Kumar didn’t include meal on his flight ticket, he ordered food. However, the crew of the IndiGo flight refused to provide him food as he was paying in Indian currency. The crew members said they were only allowed to take foreign currency, Kumar alleged.

Speaking to Zee News, Pramod Kumar said the the IndiGo flight crew didn’t accept payment in Indian currency citing rules. However, the norms say that a passenger can pay in the currency of the country from where he/she takes the flight and where he/she lands.

Yesterday, IndiGo suspended two staffers for allegedly misbehaving with a woman passenger at Guwahati airport.

The incident involving lawyer Krishna Sarma happened yesterday wherein her mobile phone was allegedly snatched by a staff to delete certain pictures clicked by her.

Regretting the "unpleasant experience" of Sarma with its airport staff, IndiGo said, "based on her complaint, has suspended the two employees involved in the incident pending investigation".

When contacted, Sarma told PTI, "I am satisfied that IndiGo responded with such alacrity". But, she refused to talk further about the incident.

In its statement, IndiGo said the airline has been in touch with Sarma and regretted the inconvenience caused to her.

"In fact, we have kept her informed of the immediate steps that IndiGo has taken following her complaint," the statement said.

According to a message circulating on social media, Sarma clicked some pictures when her luggage was being screened again and again.

After checking her bag, one of the staff allegedly said she had to delete the pictures. Despite the passenger saying that the pictures have been deleted, the staff forcibly snatched her phone and proceeded to delete the same from 'recently deleted' folder in the phone, as per the message purportedly attributed to Sarma.

Following the incident, she complained to the airline.

Earlier this month, a video clip of IndiGo staff assaulting a passenger at the airport in the national capital had gone viral. Later, the airline apologised for the incident while a probe by aviation regulator DGCA is on.