New Delhi: India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Saturday imposed a ₹22.20 crore penalty on IndiGo over widespread flight cancellations and delays last month that left thousands of passengers stranded across the country.

In a strong regulatory action, the watchdog also issued warnings to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and two other senior executives. The airline has additionally been directed to submit a ₹50 crore bank guarantee to ensure compliance with safety directives and long-term operational reforms.

The disruption occurred in early December when IndiGo cancelled hundreds of flights after failing to adequately prepare for the implementation of revised flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms for pilots. The sudden cancellations triggered chaos at airports nationwide and sparked concerns over the airline’s operational planning and passenger handling mechanisms.

Following the incident, the DGCA constituted a four-member committee led by Joint Director General Sanjay K Brahmane to conduct a detailed review of the situation. The panel submitted its findings to the regulator on December 27.

Reacting to the crisis earlier in Parliament, Union Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu had said, “We are not taking this situation easily. We are doing an inquiry. We will take very, very strict action not only for this situation but also as an example.”