DGCA's new eGCA platform aims to make aviation incident reporting faster

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is developing a digital platform on the eGCA portal for reporting aviation incidents, a move aimed at making the submission and processing of mandatory occurrence reports faster and more efficient.The initiative, intended to strengthen the country's aviation safety oversight, was announced by civil aviation minister K Rammohan Naidu in the Rajya Sabha on Monday."DGCA is presently in the process of introducing a digital platform for occurrence reporting on the eGCA portal to facilitate electronic submission and processing of mandatory occurrence reports, thereby improving the timeliness and efficiency of incident reporting," he said in a written reply.The minister also outlined the regulator's existing safety oversight framework, saying the DGCA monitors compliance with aviation rules and Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) covering all aircraft and airport operators. According to him, the oversight process includes regulatory audits, night surveillance, ramp inspections, spot checks and special audits.The eGCA portal refers to e-governance of civil aviation.In another written reply, minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that airfare pricing is determined by dynamic changes driven by the basic forces of supply and demand.He said airline ticket prices are influenced by a range of factors, including current seat occupancy, fuel costs, aircraft capacity, seasonal fluctuations and other relevant considerations."The government generally refrains from regulating airfares to maintain market competitiveness, however, it retains vigilant oversight role, intervening in exceptional circumstances by redistributing capacity across various sectors and imposing temporary fare caps, such as during the Covid pandemic, festivals like Maha Kumbh or other extraordinary instances like Pahalgam incident and the Indigo flight disruptions," Mohol said.Get the latest Business News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.