It’s the regulator, stupid!

Not adequately empowering the DGCA despite its statutory status is a mistake that needs to be corrected

- A K BHATTACHARYA

Imagine a huge residential complex in a city with thousands of apartments. Several months after these apartments have been built and residents have moved in, the municipal authorities ofthe area wake upto the reality that these flats do not have an adequate number of security guards to ensure residents’ safety.

So, the municipal authorities ask the real estate company that had built those apartments to put the required number of security guards in placewithinagiven time frame. The real estate company requests foran extension ofthe deadline for fulfilling the condition and the municipal authorities agree to it initially. However, they later enforce the guidelines once the extended deadline comestoanend.

Left with no option, the real estate company decides that till such time as it can fulfil the condition imposed by the municipal authorities, it will asksome of the families to move out of the residential complex. The selective approach is adopted because the real estate company has to maintain a minimum ratio of security guards to the number of families that stay in the complex. Hiringsecurity guards could take sometime. So, it decides to evict many families residing in those apartments. Chaos ensues.

Formost Indians, this story must be ringinga bell. Yes, weare talking about thousands of flights that were cancelled last week by India’s largest airline, IndiGo. ‘The comparison between an airline and a real estate company is not proper. Yet, the comparison helps us understand what exactly hit IndiGo and, by implication, what is ailing the regulatory system for India’s civil aviation sector.