Comments invited on DGCA's CAR on carriage by Air of Persons with Disabilities. Closing date- 27 June 2016

Dear friends,

This is in continuation to my earlier post [hyperlinked title] SC slaps Rs.10 lakhs fine on Spice Jet for discriminating with a flier with disability dated 08 June 2016.

The Directorate of Civil Aviation has, after Jeeja Ghosh's Supreme Court ruling, has  issued yet another draft Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on Carriage by Air of Persons with Disabilities and Persons with reduced mobility. The Hon'ble Supreme Court had directed the DGCA to revise the CAR after consulting with civil society to ensure that air travel was non discriminatory and safe for every one. 

Brief Background

After the 2008 CAR, when cases of discrimination related to persons with disabilities did not stop, the  DGCA  set up a Committee under the chairmanship of Shri Asok Kumar, with several representatives from Private and Public Airliners, BCAS, DGCA and the disability sector. The report of Asok Kumar Committee (Oct 2012)  can be found (hyperlink opens).

In response to the Asok Kumar Committee's report,  the DGCA issued a draft CAR in 2013, which was published, after comments from the sector as the DGCA CAR 28 Feb 2014 (hyperlink opens). 

In Jeeja Ghosh's case, the deficiencies between the CAR and the Committee Report were highlighted before the Supreme Court with the efforts of HRLN and thus the Supreme Court directed in the judgement that the CAR be revised. 

The DGCA had made some changes in the CAR such as removing the category of 'incapacitated persons', adding 'Autism' as one of the impairments etc. but there are many issues that are still a major concern for the sector. 

The draft CAR for public comments with a closing date of 27th June 2016 is uploaded on the DGCA's Website (draft opens in hyperlink). You may like to send your comments directly to Shri. Lalit Gupta,  Deputy Director General,  Office of the Director General of Civil Aviation,   Opp. Safdarjung Airport, Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi – 110 003