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Journalism of Courage
An X user has accused IndiGo of overcharging him, with a screengrab of his total fare for a Lucknow-Bengaluru flight showing Rs 50 under “cute charge”, among other particulars such as a user development fee and an aviation security fee.
“Dear @IndiGo6E 1. What is this ‘Cute Fee’? Do you charge users for being cute? Or do you charge because you believe that your aeroplanes are cute? 2. What is this ‘User Development Fee’? How do you develop me when I travel in your aeroplane? 3. What is this ‘Aviation Security Fee’? Am I not paying taxes to the Government for ensuring my safety when I travel? Or has @MoCA_GoI outsourced aviation security to businesses? Kindly respond, because ye tum logo ka zyada ho raha hai ab,” Shrayansh Singh wrote on X.
Take a look at the viral post:
Soon after the post caught IndiGo’s attention, the airline responded to Singh’s queries. “Hi, we would like to inform you that the Cute charges refer to the Common User Terminal Equipment charge. It is basically the amount that is charged for the use of metal-detecting machines, escalators, and other equipments that are being used at the airport,” the airline wrote.
The viral post has prompted hilarious responses on X. While several criticised the passenger for being unaware of the extra charges, others called them “unfair.” A user wrote, “Soon enough, they’ll start delaying flights even more, make us sit at the airport for over two hours, and then charge us a “chair fee” for using the seats while we wait!” Another user commented, “Imagine in Future they will introduce charges like Ugly Charge, toilet Charge, waiting charge, airport electricity charge, etc.”
“Absolutely unfair to see that the current policies allow airlines to impose additional charges on customers at every step,” a third user said.
