IndiGo passengers were told over the weekend after enquiry that all seats are chargeable for web check-in. The airline is now telling the media that there will be no charge for web check-in for some seats. But even on Tuesday evening, an online chat by a would-be passenger with IndiGo's customer support suggested that 'all' seats are carrying a fee. Some sources said the airline was still finalising the policy and some seats would be free for web check-in.
IndiGo said on Tuesday that discussions were being held within to bring more clarity to its web check-in policy that has drawn the ire of many passengers.
'It's not necessary that a passenger booking a seat through web check-in needs to pay. There will be some free seats. A passenger will have to pay only during advance booking,' an IndiGo spokesperson said.
On Monday, in a statement to the media, IndiGo said it had not changed its web check-in policy. But when would-be passengers enquired, customer support executives said 'all seats are now charge- able' for web check-in. Anil Punjabi, chairman of Travel Agents Federation of India, east, tried to book seats on flight 6E 679 from Dehradun to Delhi and again 6E 786, from Delhi to Calcutta, for December 13.
'All seats were chargeable on the two flights. Earlier, if a passenger didn't select a seat, then there would be no charge. The system would randomly allocate a free seat and issue the boarding pass,' said Punjabi. 'However, today when I tried web check-in, I could not access the system without paying,' he said on Tuesday.
When The Telegraph spoke to a senior official of the airline, he conceded that more clarity was needed. 'There are internal discussions on how to implement the new policy with more clarity. At this stage there is some confusion,' another official said.
The airline has said check-in at the airport counter is still free.
If the policy listed by the IndiGo customer support executive is followed, this is how an interior of an Airbus A-319 with 31 rows will look. Each figure is the charge you pay for the particular seat when you check in online Calcutta.
