DGCA Free Name Correction Rule: How the 24-Hour Window Works in 2026
By Aarav Sharma (Aarav Sharma covers Indian airline operations, airport infrastructure and route economics. He writes about Tier-1 and Tier-2 airport developments, IndiGo and Air India fleet strategy, and the unsung Indian aviation hubs travellers should know about.) · Published · 9 min read
DGCA now requires airlines to fix minor name typos at no charge within 24 hours of a direct booking. Sounds simple. The real story is what 'minor' means, which airlines have actually complied, and what you're stuck paying once that window closes.
TL;DR — The Rule in One Paragraph
DGCA's circular effective March 2026 requires all scheduled Indian carriers to allow passengers to correct minor name errors on tickets — typographical mistakes, transposed letters, minor spelling variations — free of charge within 24 hours of booking, as long as the booking was made directly with the airline. After 24 hours, standard name-change fees apply (and these can be steep — often running into thousands of rupees). The rule covers direct airline bookings only; OTA bookings fall under the OTA's own correction policy.
What Counts as a 'Minor' Name Correction?
This is where it gets ambiguous, and where most of the arguments between passengers and airline call centres happen. DGCA's circular uses the term 'minor typographical errors' without an exhaustive definition. From how airlines have been implementing it in the months since the circular:
- Clearly minor: One or two wrong letters in a first or last name (e.g., 'Priyanka' entered as 'Priyamka'). A missing or extra character. Surname and given name swapped in the name fields.
- Borderline: A nickname entered instead of a passport-legal name (e.g., 'Ricky' instead of 'Rikshit'). A hyphenated surname entered as one word or vice versa. Whether these are 'minor' depends on the airline agent you reach.
- Not minor: Changing the name to a completely different person's name. Adding a co-passenger. Changing initials to full names when the passport doesn't match either form.
The practical rule of thumb I've seen work: if the corrected name is clearly the same person (same surname, obviously the same traveller) and requires changing three characters or fewer, most IndiGo and Air India agents will process it as minor within the 24-hour window. More than that, and you're likely to get transferred to a 'name change' department that charges a fee.
Airline-by-Airline Compliance: Who Is Doing This Well?
A circular is only as good as its implementation. Here is how the major carriers are faring as of mid-2026:
- IndiGo: Has a reasonably functional name-correction flow in the 'Manage Booking' section of the website. Within 24 hours, the correction request is handled without agent intervention in many cases. Call centre also honours the rule. Scores well on compliance.
- Air India: The name-correction process is available via Air India's website and app. Processing time within the free window can be slower than IndiGo's — the backend system sometimes takes a few hours to update, which is fine as long as you initiate the request within 24 hours. Keep your confirmation email as evidence of when you submitted the request.
- Akasa Air: Has implemented the 24-hour window and publicised it clearly in their booking confirmation emails — a nice touch. Their call centre is generally quick to handle minor corrections.
- Air India Express: The rule applies on AIX bookings but the process currently requires calling the contact centre; there's no self-service portal option for name corrections on AIX as of this writing. Make sure you call within the 24-hour window.
- SpiceJet: Has the rule in place per DGCA requirement, but call wait times can be long, which creates a practical risk of missing the 24-hour window. If you spot a name error on a SpiceJet booking, call immediately and note the time of your call.
What Happens After the 24-Hour Window Closes?
Once the 24-hour free correction window has passed, you're back to the airline's standard name-change fees — and these can be genuinely painful. Name change fees (as opposed to minor correction fees) typically run anywhere from around ₹500 for simple domestic low-cost fares to several thousand rupees for full-service or international bookings. Some airlines treat a name correction after 24 hours as a full cancellation-and-rebook, which means you pay the difference in fare plus a cancellation fee. That can easily exceed ₹3,000–₹5,000 on a popular route.
I've heard from a few travellers who tried to argue that their correction was 'minor' even two days after booking and got the fee waived as a goodwill gesture — but don't count on that. The 24-hour window is the rule; goodwill is not a policy.
One more thing: name corrections after the 24-hour window but before departure don't always go through same-day. If your flight is in 48 hours and you only just noticed the error, call the airline immediately and ask for an expedited correction — most airlines have an SOP for pre-departure urgent corrections that may or may not cost a fee depending on the circumstance and the agent.
Does This Apply to OTA and Travel-Agent Bookings?
No — the DGCA circular covers direct airline bookings. If you booked on MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, Cleartrip, Ixigo or through a travel agent, name correction is governed by that OTA's or agent's own policy.
In practice, most OTAs pass the name-correction request to the airline anyway — they don't hold their own inventory in a way that lets them modify the name independently on GDS. The OTA charges a service fee on top of whatever the airline charges. So you can easily end up paying OTA service fee + airline name-change fee, which is more than if you'd booked direct and missed the 24-hour window.
This is one of the clearest economic cases for booking directly with the airline if you have even a small doubt about the name. A few hundred rupees in OTA cashback rarely covers the cost of one name-correction incident.
There is overlap here with the 48-hour look-in window: if you're within 24 hours of a direct booking and you want to fix a name AND you're not sure you want the flight at all, your best move may be to cancel under the look-in rule (if you're also within 48 hours and meet the 14-day departure condition) and rebook with the correct name. That way you get a clean slate. Read the full breakdown in our DGCA 48-hour rule article before deciding which lever to pull.
How to Protect Yourself: Practical Checklist
- Check the name immediately after booking confirmation arrives. Don't wait until web check-in the night before. Many booking systems auto-fill from a saved profile — if your saved profile has a typo, so will every future booking.
- Match the name exactly to your passport or ID being used for travel. For domestic flights, your Aadhaar or voter ID is the document — make sure the name on the ticket matches. For international, it must match your passport.
- Screenshot the booking confirmation with the timestamp. If you initiate a correction request at hour 23 and the airline's system is slow, you want proof of when you requested the change — not when they processed it.
- Call, don't chat. In-app chat bots are slow and sometimes can't process corrections within the time window. Call the airline's helpline and get a reference number for the correction request.
- If you're booking for someone else — say, elderly parents or in-laws — double-check the name against their physical passport before completing the transaction. This is the single biggest source of name errors on India-based bookings.
For finding and comparing flights, FlightGPT's AI search lets you query naturally — you can ask for flights for a specific person and it holds the search context. The DigiYatra mandate article is also relevant if you're booking an international transit routing — a name mismatch between your ticket and your DigiYatra enrollment is a separate complication you don't want to manage at the airport.
Frequently asked questions
Does the DGCA free name correction rule apply to international flights?
Yes — the March 2026 DGCA circular covers all scheduled Indian carriers on both domestic and international routes, for bookings made directly with the airline. The 24-hour free-correction window and the 'minor typographical error' definition apply regardless of whether the flight is Delhi–Mumbai or Delhi–London, as long as IndiGo, Air India, or another Indian carrier operates it.
What if I booked via MakeMyTrip and there is a name error?
Contact MakeMyTrip customer care as soon as you notice the error. MMT will typically raise a correction request with the airline on your behalf and may charge a service fee (typically in the range of ₹200–₹500 based on recent reports, but verify on MMT's current fee schedule) on top of whatever the airline charges for post-window corrections. The DGCA 24-hour free-correction rule does not cover OTA bookings.
Can I change the surname completely under the name-correction rule?
No. The rule covers minor typographical errors, not surname changes. If you accidentally entered an entirely wrong surname (for instance, you booked under your maiden name but wanted your married name, or entered a sibling's name by mistake), that is beyond the scope of the circular. The airline will treat this as a name change or possibly a cancel-and-rebook, with applicable fees. Some airlines may refuse a full surname change as a security policy regardless of fee payment.
How do I initiate a name correction within 24 hours on IndiGo?
For IndiGo direct bookings: go to IndiGo.com, select 'Manage Booking,' enter your PNR and email, and look for the name-correction option in the booking details. Alternatively, call IndiGo's contact centre at 0124-6173838 (verify the current number on IndiGo.com) and quote your PNR. Ask the agent to confirm the correction is being processed at zero fee under the DGCA minor-correction circular.
If I use the 24-hour name correction, do I get a new PNR?
Not typically for a minor correction. Airlines generally update the name on the same PNR and issue a revised booking confirmation. If for any reason the airline has to reticket (which is rare for minor corrections but can happen on some international fare types), you may get a new ticket number but usually retain the same PNR. Confirm this with the agent and ensure you receive a revised confirmation email before you hang up.
What is the difference between a name correction and a name change for DGCA purposes?
DGCA's circular distinguishes minor typographical errors (free within 24 hours) from name changes (which remain subject to airline fee schedules). A name correction fixes an obvious typo — wrong letter, character transposition, first/last name swap — on the same person's booking. A name change would involve substituting a different passenger's name, which most Indian airlines don't allow at all (it is treated as a transfer of the ticket, which is generally not permitted on non-refundable domestic fares).