1,200,000 travellers at risk of fines as flights crack down on 'barebeating'

Brits have been warned to watch their conduct on flights to one particular part of the world.

According to the Metro, around that many people from the UK made the journey to India in a year, but they'd better behave themselves on the plane, or they could face the consequences.

The country's Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, recently said plane passengers could get punished for 'unruly behaviour'.

They're not introducing any new rules, just doing more about enforcing existing ones, which will target people 'barebeating'. And no, it isn't anywhere near as dirty as you might be thinking.

India cracks down on 'barebeating'

For those curious, 'barebeating' is where someone plays music without headphones to restrict the noise to just themselves, which is a supremely annoying activity to inflict upon fellow passengers.

"That's great, but could you put some headphones on? Everyone can hear you." (Getty Stock Photo)

Indian aviation rules say headphones are mandatory on flights, which means if you want to listen to anything with noise, you've got to keep it to yourself.

Under current Indian laws, which might be taken a bit more seriously from now on, passengers can be removed, restrained and face tough punishments ranging from fines to flight bans and even time in prison.

They say you're not allowed to indulge in any behaviour that 'interferes with the performance of duties of crew members, jeopardises the safety of the aircraft, persons or property on board, affects good order and discipline, or causes discomfort to other passengers and crew members'.

That includes playing music without headphones, in case you were wondering, and the Indian minister said he would 'act on complaints' about people not wearing headphones on board flights.

'Barebeating' is one of the least popular activities someone can do on a form of public transport as nothing quite unites a bunch of strangers crammed into the same place like some thoughtless wazzock deciding everyone else wants to listen to whatever they're watching.

Listening to things without headphones is sometimes referred to as 'barebeating', but it's also just known as being rude (Getty Stock Photo)

Air travel can be a rather boring experience, depending on how long it takes you to reach your destination so finding ways to entertain yourself is understandable, but inflicting that upon everyone else is not on.

Barebeating vs rawdogging

The polar opposite of the people who go 'barebeating' are those who try 'rawdogging' flights, which is where passengers take their seats and just sit there waiting to arrive at their destination.

Personally, that sounds like absolute hell, and people have invented a new flavour of misery known as 'naked flying'.

Again, this isn't what it sounds like and instead involves you getting on the plane without any hand luggage so you can have your passport, wallet, phone, charger and maybe a bottle of water and that's it.

It'll save some money, but try not to get bored.