MUMBAI: Air India has asked one of its catering agencies to bear the handling charges and the cost of the entire stack of food supplied on its

last week, as a penalty, following a complaint from an NCP MP that there were eggshells in the omelette served to her last week, an official said Monday.

NCP Rajya Sabha member Vandana Chavan on Sunday had complained about the poor quality of the food served onboard her AI flight to Delhi from Pune and alleged that the omelette she was served for breakfast had "eggshells."

"Air India has taken the incident seriously. We have imposed a penalty on the catering agency and it will have to bear the handling charges and the cost of food for the entire flight," Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar told PTI.

He said strict action was taken so that in future these type of incidents do not occur again.

In a series of tweets on October 5, Chavan said the omelette she was served had small eggshells, while the potatoes seemed decayed and the beans uncooked.

"Travelled Pun-Del early morning @airindia flight a few days back. Had ordered an omelette for breakfast. When finished with 3-4 bites I hit upon eggshells in the omelette," she tweeted and tagged it to the PMO, the aviation minister, the DGCA and the Air India chairman.

In another tweet, she said the potato slices were decayed, beans were uncooked and the mini jam jar had some powder on it.

"Though of course, the air hostess was not directly responsible for what came in my tray, it was disheartening how dispassionately they responded to what was brought to their notice. Was wondering whether I should post it here, but thought I should in public interest," Chavan tweeted.

She further said she had filled up a complaint form available on board and hoped for action.