Name of Complainant	Jay
Date of Complaint	May 11, 2023
Name(s) of companies complained against	IndiGo
Category of complaint	Airlines
Permanent link of complaint	Right click to copy link
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Please help

My flight was scheduled to Amsterdam on 8th May from Mumbai International Ariport with a layover in Kuwait. Before boarding the flight I checked with the Kuwait embassy whether a transit visa is required for the connecting flight and if required what would be the procedure. To this, the embassy mentioned that since I am not leaving the Airport premises, I do not need a transit visa and they only apply for normal visa. I further mentioned that I have a different connecting airline and may have to collect the checked in baggage and do a self-transfer. Even to this, they confirmed that I do not need a transit visa since I am not leaving the Airport’s premises. Furthermore, they did mention that the each airline has it’s own guidelines to accept or deny the boarding of the passenger please confirm with the airline. A call with Indigo customer care suggested me to reach the embassy again since according to them embassy should be able to clear it out, while embassy (including Kuwait consulate at Delhi) confirmed that you should not have a problem since you are not leaving the airport. After multiple back and forth and escalating to few senior customer experts at Indigo, I learned that the following conditions are laid down by the Airline for which a transit visa is needed (source: https://www.goindigo.in/information/visa-information/kuwait-kw-visa.html:

“If you have a layover in Kuwait, you will need a transit visa in order to exit the Kuwait airport and explore the country. Nationals of GCC Countries do not need a Kuwait transit visa. Other nationals require a transit visa which is valid for seven days. You can obtain this visa online. If you need to stay longer, you can obtain one of the following types of Kuwait visas: e-visa, visa on arrival, or visit visa.”

“A transit visa can be obtained from the Kuwait Consulate Abroad or from a Port Authority. It is required for you to have a transit visa if your halt is longer than four hours. The applicants must show proof of a flight ticket for the next destination. The transit fee for Kuwait is KD 2 (the price is subject to change).”

With my time to fly approaching, I went directly to the airport to seek a solution. However, the Indigo official denied me the boarding pass and refused to direct me to the relevant Port Authority. The only suggestion being to re-book the entire trip. Furthermore, my PNR was marked with a comment “The passenger was denied to board since he did not have a valid document”. I hold a long-term resident permit for Netherlands since I live and work there. I had to return from the mumbai airport back into the city since my trip could not go through. On one hand, embassy is not providing me a transit visa while on the other indigo is demanding one.

My questions to you are:
Can you please assess this situation as an impartial authority?
Is indigo in the right position to decide the immigration status of the passenger even if the consulate mentions that no transit visa is needed if I am not leaving the airport?
Why did indigo deny to help me or even bother to connect/confirm to the right Port/immigration Authority to confirm my immigration status? Their rationale was that I had to go through border control to receive the checked in baggage. Does this means that border control= end of Airport premises?
Is the 4 hours rule laid down by the Airline justified and according to the immigration expectations laid down by the governments, given that the passenger stays in the airport and will not leave the premises? Basically Kuwait says no visa needed if you stay in the airport for less than 24hrs, while Indigo has a completely different rule.
Is Indigo informing the passengers sufficiently and is pointing them in the right direction via their webpage? I could not apply for any visa online because I am an Indian Citizen.

I also tried to seek out for a solution via AirSewa Portal (conversation attached). However, Indigo seems to disagree and is refusing to help me out.

Please help me to reach a justice. I had to re-book my flight tickets for 12-May with different airline, but not without such mental harassment caused due to information re-circling, callousness of the airline to help out and lack of clear informaton about immigration on where to apply transit visa.

Thank you in advance.

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