Parliament Question: Amendments to rules / regulations applicable to commercial civil aviation

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 1767 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9th March 2026 AMENDMENTS TO RULES / REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO COMMERCIAL CIVIL AVIATION 1767. SHRI CHANDRAKANT DAMODAR HANDORE Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to state:- (a) whether amendments to rules / regulations applicable to commercial Civil Aviation have been made recently; (b) whether review of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR)7/5/1 (Flight Duty Time and Flight Time Limitations-cabin crew) has been completed, the latest status of the same; (c) administrative and legal action that have been taken in the wave of recent accidents relating to civil aviation to ensure highest civil aviation safety and; (d) the reason for large scale grounding of plane of inter globe aviation in December, 2025 and action that has been taken to prevent recurrence of similar situation in future; and (e) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri Murlidhar Mohol) (a): Amendments to rules and regulations applicable to commercial civil aviation are a continuous process to meet industry demands and to remain aligned with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). (b): The review of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) 7/J/1 (Flight Duty Time and Flight Time Limitations- cabin crew) has not been completed. (c): The investigation is being carried out as per the ICAO Annex 13 document and Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incident) Rules, 2025. All probable causes leading to accident are being investigated and all efforts are being made to complete the investigation in a time bound manner. (d) & (e): The primary causes for the disruption were over-optimization of operations, inadequate regulatory preparedness along with deficiencies in system software support and shortcomings in management structure and operational control on the part of M/s Indigo.DGCA has introduced more robust measures to ensure compliance by airlines with regulations which include - increased monitoring on weekly and fortnightly basis for critical operations along with bi-monthly visits to the operator by DGCA's principal point-of contact inspector - to closely monitor the airline's operations, with particular emphasis on roster integrity, crew availability, buffer adequacy, system robustness and adherence to FDTL requirements. ******