DGCA should be turned independent, with own funds, hiring: Panel to Centre | India News

India’s aviation regulator should be converted into an independent authority, created by a new law and with its own money and its own hiring, according to a proposal submitted to the government. The regulator has nearly half its posts vacant, a parliamentary panel has faulted it for “systemic” safety failures, and critics have accused it of bending its own rules last year during the IndiGo operational meltdown.Proposal seeks statutory aviation authority with greater autonomyThe report, submitted to the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) and seen by HT, recommends replacing the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) with a statutory Civil Aviation Authority of India (CAAI).The new body would have a governing board, a dedicated aviation safety fund and control over recruitment, pay and spending. Part of the cost would fall on passengers, through a levy on every departure that a study cited in the report puts at ₹15, the proposal states.The report is by a special committee headed by former economic advisor Lalit Kumar Chandel and with all joint directors general as the other members. It was constituted in August 2025; it submitted its report in November.The committee wants it set up “as a statutory body with adequate administrative and financial autonomy through legislation”. “Accordingly, a bill for introduction in the Parliament to be prepared in consultation with the ministry of law & justice,” the report said.Also read: DGCA carrying out scrutiny of SpiceJet: MinisterA person aware of the matter said the report is now with the ministry and some discussions have been held over it.“ The restructuring of the DGCA into an autonomous authority will strengthen regulatory capacity, close safety gaps, and secure India’s position as a global aviation leader. Immediate short-term reforms -- recruitment, digital upgrades, stakeholder engagement -- and longer-term legislative measures should be mapped and tracked with a clear implementation timeline. Periodic assessments based on international best practices and statutory review will ensure continued effectiveness and institutional growth,” the official told HT, asking not to be named.A second official said the report followed a direction from the ministry’s top bureaucrat. “The report was made after the secretary (of MoCA) ordered to come up with a short / mid- and long-term restructuring plan considering the present and future development of aviation in the country,” the official said.The committee’s diagnosis is blunt. As an attached office of MoCA, the report says, DGCA has limited operational independence, and its dependence on budgetary allocations can hold back recruitment of specialised talent and investment in technology.Also read: All pilots to undergo dope test once till July 2027: DGCA tells airlinesNew body to control recruitment, finances and spendingThe report lists gaps in technical expertise, manpower, enforcement and the timely resolution of safety findings. It singles out the shortage of technical staff as one of the most pressing.The regulator has had a long history of misses and inadequate regulatory action. In March, the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture said recent incidents, among them the June 2025 crash of Air India flight AI 171 that killed 260 people, pointed to “systemic rather than episodic failures” in India’s aviation safety architecture. It found 787 of DGCA’s 1,630 sanctioned posts vacant. A DGCA audit from January 2025 to February 2026 had found recurring technical defects in 377 of 754 aircraft, half of those it checked.Also read: Aviation ministry pulls the plug on Kanpur's Garg Aviation amid safety complaintsDGCA faces scrutiny over safety oversight gapsWhen IndiGo cancelled more than 2,500 flights in three days last December, the regulator gave the airline sweeping exemptions from crew-fatigue norms. Pilots had won those norms after 13 years of litigation that began with the 2010 Mangaluru crash, which killed 158 people.DGCA later sacked four inspectors who oversaw IndiGo and removed a key officer, and MoCA ordered an internal inquiry “to identify and implement systemic improvements within the DGCA”.The IndiGo episode was followed by lapses at smaller operators, which surfaced only after accidents. DGCA grounded four aircraft of charter operator VSR after the January crash at Baramati that killed then Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. In July, the ministry pulled up the regulator over officials’ undisclosed family links with airlines it oversees.The overhaul recommendation comes ahead of a visit by a five-member team of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to assess India’s safety oversight from November 16 to 20, HT reported in September.Also read: DGCA finds ‘serious findings in top airlines’ during audit ahead of key US checkSafety assessment adds urgency to proposed overhaulIn August 2025, the parliamentary committee sought a time-bound plan to give the DGCA financial and administrative autonomy; the ministry replied that direct recruitment by the DGCA was not under consideration. This August, the Federation of Indian Pilots wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a Civil Aviation Authority in the DGCA’s place.A similar suggestion was tabled in 2011. In May that year, a Parliamentary Standing Committee report on DGCA recommended reviewing the authority structure to explore reforms that would render the DGCA more agile, granting it greater administrative and financial autonomy commensurate with its regulatory responsibilities. Under the latest proposed law, a governing board headed by the director general (civil aviation) would run the authority. Its whole-time members would come from the DGCA cadre and its part-time members from the industry, with an advisory committee of industry experts alongside. The DG and whole-time members would be picked through a specialised search-and-selection process and serve five-year terms.The authority would pay its way through service fees, certification charges, penalties and the passenger levy, all of which its board could revise. “This financial autonomy would shield it from the constraints of government budget cycles and enable it to invest in necessary infrastructure and staffing,” the report said. The government could provide grants until the authority became self-sufficient, and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) would audit its books every year.The report calls the ₹15 levy, drawn from a ministry study by Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), a “modest charge” that would fund the authority’s operations “but also allowing for the generation of surplus funds”.Also read: Garg Aviation flouted flight data-monitoring norms: AAIB in Kanpur training aircraft crash probeOmbudsman proposed for passenger grievancesPassengers would also get an independent ombudsman. “An independent Ombudsman shall be established to act as a vital intermediary, addressing grievances related to flight cancellations, delays, lost luggage, and other service related issues, which would significantly enhance consumer protection,” the report states.Recognising that law-making takes time, the committee does not want the regulator left waiting. “Until an independent body is established through the enactment of appropriate legislation, it is crucial to implement incremental measures that directly address some of the pressing issues currently confronting DGCA,” it noted.Some of these measures include hiring technical staff to address shortage and strengthening the regional and sub-regional offices.Among the longer-term fixes, the report backs the parliamentary committee’s call for an Indian Civil Aviation Service, a Group ‘A’ cadre that would give the regulator a steady supply of trained officers.Queries sent to the DGCA and MoCA did not elicit a response.