Foreign Airlines Flying to India Must Now Appoint a Local Representative and Handle Complaints Like Indian Carriers

Foreign airlines flying to and from India are now subject to consumer-protection and reporting rules that previously applied only to domestic carriers, following an order issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in April 2026 under DGCA chief Vir Vikram Yadav. Every foreign carrier operating in the country must now nominate a local representative, either an Indian citizen or an India-registered entity, who acts as the airline's official point of contact with the regulator and must report any aviation incident within four hours.

What changes for passengers

The order requires foreign airlines to set up a formal passenger grievance redressal mechanism, maintain a searchable complaints database and submit periodic reports to the DGCA, the same obligations Indian carriers such as Air India and IndiGo already work under. In practice, a passenger with a complaint against a foreign airline, over a delayed refund, denied boarding or mishandled baggage, now has a defined escalation route through the DGCA rather than relying solely on the airline's own, often overseas-based, customer service channels.

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Stronger powers for the regulator

Alongside the grievance requirements, the order gives the DGCA explicit authority to suspend or revoke a foreign airline's authorisation to operate in India over safety lapses or repeated non-compliance, and requires carriers to register on the DGCA's eGCA portal with authenticated documentation before flying. Officials have framed the change as closing a longstanding gap in which foreign airlines, unlike Indian ones, operated under comparatively light regulatory touch on consumer issues despite carrying a large share of India's international traffic.

What to do if it affects your trip

Indian travellers flying internationally on a foreign carrier now have grounds to escalate an unresolved complaint to the DGCA if the airline's own channels don't respond, though the practical effect will depend on how quickly individual airlines complete their local representative appointments and grievance systems. As with any regulatory change, it is worth confirming an airline's current complaint-handling process directly with the carrier or checking the DGCA's own website before booking if this is a deciding factor.

Traveller tips

• Keep booking references, boarding passes and correspondence with the airline; these are needed to escalate a complaint through the DGCA.
• Try the airline's own grievance channel first; the DGCA route is designed as an escalation path, not a replacement for it.
• The rule applies to all foreign carriers operating to India, not a specific airline or route.
• Confirm the current status of an airline's local representative and grievance process on the DGCA's website before relying on it for an active dispute.