The denied boarding compensation India's regulator describes sits in one document: the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's Civil Aviation Requirements, Section 3, Series M, Part IV, Issue I dated 6 August 2010, now at Rev. 4 dated 25 January 2023 and effective from 15 February 2023 (DGCA, captured 2026-09-27). The part of it that decides most outcomes is not a percentage. It is a clock: when the replacement flight the airline arranges is scheduled to depart, measured against the departure time on your original booking. Below is that timing test, what the text says at each step, and the two records a passenger can actually produce.
This is not legal advice. Rules change and airlines apply them case by case, so check the airline's own published policy and the regulator's current text before you act.
What the rule counts as denied boarding
The CAR defines the term narrowly. Para 2.6 reads: "Denied Boarding means a refusal to carry a passenger or passenger holding confirmed ticket on a flight although he/she has presented himself/herself for boarding within the time specified by the airline, except where there are reasonable grounds to refuse carriage such as reasons of health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documentation."
Two conditions sit inside that sentence: a confirmed ticket, and presenting yourself within the time the airline specified. A passenger who arrived after check-in closed, or was refused over documents, is outside the definition.
Para 3.2.1 then covers the overbooked flight. When confirmed passengers who "reported for the flight well within the specified time" outnumber the seats, "an airline must first ask for volunteers to give up their seats", in exchange for whatever benefits the airline "at its own discretion, may wish to offer". A volunteer is someone who accepted that call (para 2.7). The compensation bands below apply to passengers denied boarding "against their will" (para 3.2.2), so whether you volunteered or were bumped matters from the first minute.
The timing test that decides the band
Para 3.2.2 opens with the exception that most often applies: "the airline shall not be liable for any compensation in case alternate flight is arranged that is scheduled to depart within one hour of the original schedule departure time of the initial reservation."
Past that one hour, the text sets out three cases:
| Where the alternate flight lands on the clock | What para 3.2.2 says |
|---|---|
| Scheduled to depart within one hour of the original departure | No compensation liability |
| Scheduled to depart within 24 hours of the booked departure, sub-para (a) | "An amount equal to 200% of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to maximum of INR 10,000" |
| Scheduled to depart more than 24 hours after the booked departure, sub-para (b) | "An amount equal to 400% of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to maximum of INR 20,000" |
| Passenger does not opt for the alternate flight, sub-para (c) | "refund of full value of ticket and compensation equal to 400% of booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, subject to maximum of INR 20,000" |
Three details in that table are easy to miss. The base is the one-way basic fare plus the airline fuel charge, not the total you paid with taxes and fees. The caps are ₹10,000 and ₹20,000. And the test reads the scheduled departure of the alternate flight, not when it actually leaves.
For connections, para 3.2.3 adds a second clock. A passenger on connecting flights "shall be compensated by the airline of the first flight for the first leg" under para 3.2.2 when delayed at the departure station by denied boarding "but has arrived at the final destination at least three hours later than the scheduled arrival time."
Why the clock starts at departure
The Indian test measures the replacement flight's scheduled departure against your original departure. The US rule measures something else. Under 14 CFR Part 250, §250.5(a)(1), a carrier owes no compensation for a domestic oversale if the alternate transportation "is planned to arrive at the airport of the passenger's first stopover, or if none, the airport of the passenger's final destination not later than one hour after the planned arrival time of the passenger's original flight" (eCFR, captured 2026-09-27). The US bands are also stated as at least 200 and 400 percent of the fare, but they turn on arrival, not departure.
The EU's Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 handles it differently again. Article 4(3) says that if boarding is denied against their will, "the operating air carrier shall immediately compensate them in accordance with Article 7 and assist them in accordance with Articles 8 and 9" (EUR-Lex, captured 2026-09-27).
This matters on international trips from Indian airports. Para 3.6.1 of the CAR says that for foreign carriers, "the amount of compensation paid to the passengers shall be as contained in the regulations of their country of origin or as given in para 3.2.2/3.3.2/3.5.1 of this CAR." A passenger bumped at Delhi or Mumbai by a foreign airline may therefore be looking at a different clock from the one above.
The two things you can actually produce
Every step of the test depends on times: presenting yourself "within the time specified", and the scheduled departure of each flight. The airline holds its own system records. What a passenger can show falls into two groups.
Your own timestamp. A boarding pass, a check-in confirmation email or app screen, or a bag tag receipt shows that you were checked in, and often when. Photograph the boarding pass before you hand it back, and keep any rebooking slip, because the new flight number and its scheduled departure time are printed there.
The status history of both flights. The band depends on when the alternate flight was scheduled to leave relative to your original departure. A record of both flights' scheduled and actual times, captured on the day, lets you check the arithmetic yourself rather than relying on what was said at a busy counter. Screenshots of the airline's own status page with the device clock visible are the simplest version, for the original flight as well as the new one.
Neither record decides a claim. They let you ask a precise question: which sub-para of 3.2.2 does this fall under, and why.
How it is paid and where to raise it
Para 3.7.1 says compensation under para 3.2.2 "shall be paid in cash, by bank transfer or with the signed agreement of the passenger in the form of travel vouchers." A voucher therefore needs your signed agreement under the text.
Para 3.10.2 requires airlines to "display their policies in regard to compensation, refunds and the facilities that will be provided by the airline in the event of denied boardings, cancellations and delays on their respective websites as part of their passenger Charter of Rights." That published policy is the document to read first, for example on the carrier behind our Air India directory page. Under para 3.9.1 you may complain directly to the airline, and under para 3.9.2 "The passenger may file the grievance on Air Sewa App or Portal."
Where TrackMyWings fits
TrackMyWings™ is a flight-tracking platform in development. A private Android beta has been running on the Play internal testing track since 2026-08-24, and there is no public launch date. Gate and status alerts are among the features planned for launch. None of that replaces the airline's own status page and your screenshots, which remain the records to keep.
Sources
- Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Government of India, Civil Aviation Requirements, Section 3 (Air Transport), Series M, Part IV, "Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights", Issue I dated 6 August 2010, Rev. 4 dated 25 January 2023, effective 15 February 2023, paras 2.6, 2.7, 3.2.1 to 3.2.3, 3.6.1, 3.7.1, 3.9.1, 3.9.2 and 3.10.2: https://www.dgca.gov.in/digigov-portal/Upload?flag=iframeAttachView&attachId=we1PSlOuQhYdHcwKKrm7ew%3D%3D (captured 2026-09-27)
- US Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Part 250 (Oversales), §250.5(a), eCFR current text: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-II/subchapter-A/part-250 (captured 2026-09-27)
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Article 4 (Denied boarding): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261 (captured 2026-09-27)
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