‘Daylight robbery’: Passenger accuses IndiGo of weighing scale discrepancies during check-in; airline responds

IndiGo Airlines faces backlash after a passenger shared his experience of inconsistent baggage weights, leading to an overcharge of ₹11,900. His viral Twitter post highlights concerns about the accuracy of weighing scales at check-in counters.

Rattan Dhillon shared a post on Twitter (now X) about his bad experience with IndiGo Airlines. He claims the weighing machines at IndiGo’s check-in counters show different weights for the same bag. The social media user, who loves cars, calls it “one of the biggest unnoticed scams by IndiGo”.

On his flight from Goa to Chandigarh, his bag showed 18 kg on one belt, 16 kg on another and 15 kg on a third. When he asked the staff, they said the 15 kg reading was wrong and charged him for 18 kg.

Dhillon paid ₹11,900 for extra baggage, including ₹1,500 just for carrying an umbrella. He later checked the bag’s weight at his hotel, and it was exactly 15 kg.

“This is nothing less than daylight robbery, and passengers are being ripped off without realizing it. IndiGo must be held accountable for this fraud,” the user added.

His post, including receipt details, has gone viral with 1.2 million views. Twitter users expressed themselves about the incident.

“It was kind of you to simply accept and not challenge back. I would have got the photos of all 3 of them showing different weight with same luggage and then raised on various channels about it,” wrote one of them.

“All commercial weighing scales should have a valid calibration from NABL accredited lab. It should be made mandatory to show a calibration record and validity sticker on each scale,” wrote another.

One user advised people to “carry a Luggage Weighing Scale.

Another user commented, “This is absolute nonsense from IndiGo6E. What is this behavior.....how come they can tune the weighing scales....this is ridiculous.....imagine a poor man taking it's 1st flight and they scam him on his 1st experience. This is heights of robbery.”

“Faced the same issue while traveling from Kolkata to Mumbai. One counter showed 17 kg, another showed 14. When I asked, they insisted the higher one was "accurate". It's frustrating how common this seems to be,” posted another.

IndiGo responds

LiveMint has reached out to IndiGo and is awaiting a formal reply. Meanwhile, the airline company responded to Dhillon’s complaint.

“We would like to reassure you that all baggage weighing scales are maintained, routinely calibrated and certified by the airport authorities to ensure accurate readings,” Team IndiGo wrote.

“As part of our due diligence, we also conducted an internal review in coordination with the airport team, and no discrepancies were found with the equipment used during your check-in,” it added.

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