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The central government has taken a big step to control air fares amid the crisis of IndiGo. The government has divided the tickets for different distances into three parts and fixed their maximum price. Due to cancellation and cancellation of Indigo flights, the price of tickets was reaching Rs 1 lakh each.
New Delhi. In the last few days, air fares started spiraling out of control due to flight cancellations and delays, so the government immediately intervened. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) has imposed fare caps on all routes across the country so that airlines do not take advantage of the situation and send prices skyrocketing. After this decision, companies will no longer be able to increase fares arbitrarily and passengers will also not have to bear base rates for last minute bookings. The government says that this step will continue until the situation becomes normal.
According to the new order of MOCA, the maximum fare for flights up to 500 km will now be Rs 7500. Airlines will not be able to make any sudden increase in this. This decision has been taken because the shorter routes are booked the most and in times of crisis, fares rise here first.
Limit even on mid range routes
Now the maximum fare for flights between 500 to 1000 km has been kept at Rs 12000. Whereas for flights covering a distance of 1000 to 1500 km, the fare will not be more than Rs 15000. This is the same segment where travel demand has increased these days and rates were seen going uncontrolled.
New limit on long distance flights
Now the maximum fare on flights longer than 1500 km has been fixed at Rs 18000. The government has clarified that this cap will be applicable on all booking channels whether the ticket is purchased from the airline site or any OTA platform.
Airlines will have to keep tickets available in every fare bucket
Many times airlines close the buckets with cheap fares and leave only the expensive options. Now this will not work. It has been said in the order that it is necessary to have tickets available in all fare categories. Apart from this, there will be a ban on sudden increase in fare on routes where flights have been cancelled.
Not applicable on Business Class and UDAN
The government has clearly said that this fare limit will apply to economy class, whereas business class and UDAN scheme flights have been exempted from it. Also, these prices are without including UDF, PSF and tax i.e. these charges will be added separately.
what happened so far
In the last few days, there have been continuous operational failures from IndiGo’s side. Many crew members reported sudden absence, causing disruption to flight schedules in many sectors. DGCA received complaints from thousands of passengers that flights were being canceled without information or delayed for hours. Meanwhile, screenshots of airfare also started going viral on social media where tickets for a 1 hour flight were seen to be above Rs 20,000. The displeasure of the passengers increased, the opposition also demanded intervention from the government. DGCA sought a reply from the airline and then the ministry made it clear that now the airlines will not be given any opportunity to loot the passengers. Apart from this, the government has also decided to cut the flight allocation, set the schedule according to the availability of the crew and submit the report of the entire situation to the PMO. Seeing the increasing pressure, an order for direct fare control has now been issued.
