@ skaios: yup totally agree with you there brother thats why if your IR has lapsed and if you haven't flown for the last 12 months which i think would be the general case you'll have to fly
a.) 00:45 min familiarization flight,
b.) skill test by day and by night,
c.) then your IR test
thats roughly around 5 hrs.
N yeah not to mention Ground Refresher on Technical/Performance with qualified AME/Examiner on type.
This i got to know after a friend of mine who JUST did 1 hr of IR test for his recency was told by the DGCA to go fly some more.