Udan Yatri Café Only Outside Security Check: PIL In Calcutta High Court Challenges Placement Of Affordable Food Outlets At Airport

A Public Interest Litigation has been instituted before the Calcutta High Court questioning the effective implementation of the Government of India's Udan Yatri Café scheme at airports, particularly the absence of such affordable outlets inside post-security airside areas where passengers are required to wait prior to boarding.

The matter is scheduled to be taken up as a new motion on 2 March 2026 before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen.

The petition has been filed by Advocate Akash Sharma in public interest under Article 226 of the Constitution of India against the Union of India through the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Airports Authority of India, and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.

The petition states that the Udan Yatri Café initiative was introduced as a passenger welfare measure to provide essential refreshments at controlled and subsidised prices at airports, including tea and drinking water at about ₹10 and basic snacks at about ₹20, with the declared objective of protecting passengers from exorbitant food and beverage pricing inside airport terminals.

It is contended that although the scheme has been rolled out at multiple airports across the country beginning with Kolkata and thereafter at other major airports, in several instances only a single café outlet has been established and that too in the pre-security check-in area. According to the petition, once passengers cross the CISF security screening, they are confined to the post-security airside hold area and cannot return to the public concourse without risking denial of boarding.

In that restricted zone, only private concessionaire outlets operate, allegedly charging disproportionately high prices for basic refreshments. The petition asserts that this placement makes the subsidised café facility practically inaccessible to security-cleared passengers and renders the welfare scheme ineffective in operation.

The petition relies on public domain reports and official statements indicating that the scheme was conceived after concerns were raised regarding steep airport food prices and that the first such café at Kolkata airport witnessed heavy public usage, reportedly serving tens of thousands of passengers within its first month. It is further stated that passenger feedback across platforms shows sustained demand for similar affordable outlets within post-security hold areas where travellers spend longer waiting periods.

The petitioner also refers to the growth in air passenger traffic, stating that passenger volumes have crossed 20 crore in the first half of the current financial year, thereby increasing the number of affected travellers.

Before approaching the Court, the petitioner claims to have submitted a detailed representation dated 21 January 2026 to the concerned authorities seeking corrective measures and dual placement of Udan Yatri Café outlets both outside and inside security areas, but no response or action followed.

The petition alleges that post-security zones constitute captive consumer spaces within regulated public infrastructure and that denial of access to subsidised food facilities in those zones is arbitrary and contrary to the object of the scheme.

The writ petition seeks directions upon the respondent authorities to ensure availability of at least one Udan Yatri Café outlet at subsidised notified prices both outside the security check area and within the post-security airside hold area at airports, to frame uniform placement and operational guidelines, to provide basic variants such as unsweetened tea and coffee for health-restricted passengers, and to file compliance reports regarding effective implementation.

The matter is presently listed for initial consideration before the Division Bench on 02.03.2026.