Pilot associations have accused the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation of widespread corruption. The claims came during a parliamentary panel meeting focused on IndiGo's major flight cancellations from early December, which disrupted travel for at least 12.5 lakh passengers. The Transport, Tourism and Culture committee, chaired by Sanjay K. Jha, examined how new pilot rest and duty rules led to chaos by causing crew shortages. Present were officials from the Ministry, DGCA, IndiGo’s top executives including Chief Operations Officer Isidre Porqueras and Senior Vice President Ashim Mitra, and representatives from Airlines Pilots Association India (ALPA-I), Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), and Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP). The nearly three-hour meeting saw ALPA president Captain Sam Thomas accusing the Ministry and DGCA of "corruption at every level." Panel members demanded proof of these serious charges. Questions also arose about DGCA’s approval for IndiGo to increase flights by 10% during winter and its evaluation of the airline’s readiness under new pilot duty rules. Pilot bodies raised concerns over tough working conditions and airlines' misinterpretation of rules for their benefit. IndiGo said the cancellations resulted from "a combination of factors" including minor technical issues, winter schedule changes, bad weather, air traffic congestion, and new pilot norms. DGCA confirmed it consulted all stakeholders and granted selective exemptions to airlines to ease the new rules, effective November 1. The Ministry revealed a four-member committee has been set up to investigate IndiGo’s operational failure. The parliamentary panel plans another meeting after this inquiry is complete.