‘Why Pay For Web Check-ins?’ Indian Railways Takes Dig at IndiGo

The Indian Railways’ remark comes amidst the ongoing row over IndiGo charging for its web check-in services.

Photo used for representation. 

(Photo altered by The Quint)

Amidst the ongoing row over IndiGo charging a fee for advance seat booking through web check-in services, the Indian Railways on Monday, 26 November, took a subtle dig at the budget carrier for its decision to levy charges on all the seats via web check-ins.

“Why pay a premium for web-checkins on flights... When you can just take a train?" the Indian Railways said in a post published on Twitter.

"No need to pay extra charges for Web-Checkins. No long queues for checking in your luggage. Avoid unreasonable tariff & reduce your carbon footprint by travelling on the good old Indian Railways at affordable rates," it further said.

The tweet that contained an infographic also mentioned four advantages train journeys over air travel which read: “No web-checkins needed, pre-allocated seats, no extra charge and affordable rates”.

Indigo on Sunday, 25 November, had confirmed on Twitter that the air-carrier was to levy charges on web check-in services as its ‘revised policies.’

Following a complaint raised on Twitter by passenger over the paid web check-in service, IndiGo said:

“As per our revised policy, all seats will be chargeable for web check-in. Alternatively, you may check-in at the airport for free. Seats will be assigned as per availability.”

IndiGo, which has a domestic market share of nearly 43 percent, has been levying charges for web check-in from 14 November, as per PTI reports.

In the July-September quarter, all the three listed carriers – IndiGo, SpiceJet and Jet Airways – were in the red as they dealt with spiralling operational costs, forcing them to look for ways to increase their revenues from ancillary services.

Govt Takes Cognisance of the Matter

However, taking cognisance of the matter, the central government on the same day said it is going look into the issue of airlines charging a fee for advance seat selection through web check-in.

"MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) has noted that airlines are now charging for web check-in for all seats," the Ministry said on its Twitter handle.

"We are reviewing these fees to see whether they fall within the unbundled pricing framework."