The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) — the apex body for company secretaries with over 78,000 members — has publicly addressed the recent governance shortcomings at IndiGo, the nation’s largest airline.
On Tuesday, the institute advocated for robust governance frameworks that emphasize proactive risk identification, timely corrective action, and clear communication channels.
In a statement, the ICSI flagged the “recent governance lapse highlighted by the IndiGo incident.”
This public mention of corporate governance issues at a specific company is a rare move for the ICSI.
The airline has recently faced massive operational turmoil, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations and severe delays over the past week, although the situation is now reportedly stabilizing.
A primary cause of these disruptions is cited as the lack of adequate planning when implementing new flight duty regulations.
ICSI President Dhananjay Shukla stated that the IndiGo incident serves as a crucial reminder to both corporate entities and professionals regarding the necessity of sound governance. Such frameworks, he noted, are vital for creating and protecting shareholder value, in addition to maintaining public confidence.
Need for deeper accountability
Following the government’s strong sentiment regarding the IndiGo situation, the ICSI has stressed the urgent need for enhanced corporate governance practices across all of India Inc.
The institute emphasized the importance of deeper accountability at the board level, asserting that robust governance is not merely about compliance but also ensures corporate readiness, accountability, and effective crisis response.
Reiterating the vital role of independent boards, effective risk management and vigilant stakeholder oversight, ICSI also urged companies to align their board processes in the interest of all stakeholders and “enable proactive risk identification, timely intervention and transparent communication”.
ICSI Secretary Asish Mohan advised that since corporate governance is an ongoing responsibility, companies should critically review their existing structures and processes to better protect stakeholders and guarantee long-term operational sustainability.
IndiGo operations stable, says CEO
IndiGo’s parent company, InterGlobe Aviation, has established a crisis management group overseen by the board to monitor developments.
A statement released on Tuesday confirmed that the board is committed to addressing the challenges faced by its customers and ensuring all affected passengers receive refunds.
In the latest video message, IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers said that lakhs of customers, whose flights were cancelled or delayed, have already received their full refunds, and the process is ongoing on a daily basis.
“IndiGo is back on its feet, and our operations are stable. We’ve let you down when a major operational disruption happened, and we’re sorry for that,” Elbers said in a video message on Tuesday.
“Earlier, we had indicated to normalise between December 10-15. I can confirm now that today, as of December 9, our operations are fully stabilised, which means flights reflecting on our website are scheduled to operate with an adjusted network,” he added.
Elbers, however, remained tight-lipped on the compensation to customers, whose flights were cancelled at the last minute or were hugely delayed.
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