The US Customs and Border Protection has issued a fine of $5,832.60 to IndiGo Airlines for the delayed payment of the immigration user fee, according to the airline’s regulatory filing on Thursday.
“The authority has imposed a penalty for the payment of the immigration user fee after the due date (non-interlineable tax). The company is exploring the possibility of a waiver of the penalty,” it added.
However, the company has stated that there is no material impact on its financials, operations, or other activities. In fact, shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, rose by 1.22 per cent to Rs 4,430.50 per share on the BSE on Thursday.
IndiGo received the intimation about the penalty from the US authority on 24 July.
200 Indigo flyers stranded in Istanbul
In a separate development, the airline faced criticism online on Thursday (July 25) after 200 passengers experienced a delay at Istanbul Airport when an IndiGo flight to Delhi was postponed by 12 hours. The delay was caused by technical issues with the aircraft.
Hriday Madan, a passenger on the delayed flight 6E 12, shared his ordeal in a post on X, saying, “Absolutely pathetic service by IndiGo Airlines. My wife and I are returning from Milan through an IndiGo codeshare booking with Turkish Airlines (6E 4156) to Istanbul and 6E 12 further to Delhi. We landed at 3 pm in Istanbul and now our connecting flight has been delayed.”
Flight delay draws criticism
Another passenger, Govind Kanakan, wrote, “Pathetic situation at Istanbul Airport for passengers travelling from Istanbul to Delhi. The Turkish IndiGo 6E-12 flight is delayed by over six hours now and the operators are ignorant. The food provided to passengers at the airport is stale.”
In a statement, IndiGo expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to passengers. “The customers were kept informed of the delay, refreshments were served, and necessary arrangements were promptly made to ease the wait time at the airport,” the statement said.