Delhi High Court restrains entities impersonating Akasa Air in recruitment scam case

The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to SNV Aviation Private Limited, which operates Akasa Air, restraining multiple entities from allegedly impersonating the airline and misusing its trademarks to run recruitment-related scams.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora passed the order in a commercial suit filed by SNV Aviation seeking a permanent injunction, damages, and other reliefs for trademark infringement, passing off, and unfair competition. The Court held that a prima facie case had been established in favour of the airline.

In its order, the Court noted that the defendants had approached unsuspecting members of the public by falsely claiming to offer employment on behalf of Akasa Air and demanding so-called “process fees” for recruitment. The airline stated that it follows no such practice. The Court observed that such conduct amounted to clear misrepresentation, deception, and passing off.

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Akasa Air alleged that the defendants contacted job seekers through phone calls and emails, posing as company representatives or authorised agents. The airline further claimed that its registered trademarks, including “AKASA” and “AKASA AIR,” were being used without permission, along with deceptively similar variations such as “AKASHA” and “AKAASA.” In addition, infringing domain names were allegedly registered to create the false impression that recruitment communications originated from the airline.

The airline told the Court that it had received several complaints from the public regarding these fraudulent communications, which it said had caused reputational damage, loss of goodwill, and erosion of trust in its brand.

By an order dated December 22, the Court restrained defendants numbered 1 to 18 from using Akasa Air’s trademarks or any identical or deceptively similar marks in any form, including through domain names, email IDs, or recruitment-related messages.

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The Court also directed the suspension and locking of certain domain names, including hrakasaair.com, akaasaservices.com, and akasaairltd.com. Further directions were issued for the disclosure of KYC details and blocking of mobile numbers, UPI IDs, and bank accounts linked to the alleged impersonators. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications were instructed to coordinate with service providers for compliance.

The matter is scheduled to be listed before the Joint Registrar on February 3, 2026, and before the Court on May 22, 2026. Akasa Air was represented by advocates Essenese Obhan, Ayesha Guhathakurta, and Urvika Aggarwal of Obhan & Associates.