Passengers deserve protection from predatory pricing: CPI MP to Civil Aviation Minister

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) CPI Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar on Monday demanded a cap on airfares following the IndiGo disruptions.

He said passengers deserve protection from predatory pricing not only during crises but also during predictable periods of high demand, such as festivals.

In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, Sandosh Kumar quoted a reply by the ministry in the Rajya Sabha on July 24, 2023, when it had said airfares were market-driven and were neither regulated nor established by the government.

He said the statement suggested that the government and the ministry lacked the authority to intervene in airfare determination, but the December 6 order demonstrated the opposite.

"The same Order states that these fare limits are applicable for travel until the fares stabilise, yet the Government has nowhere defined what it considers to be stable fares or what constitutes reasonable pricing," he said.

Sandosh Kumar said the absence of a clear definition of stability and reasonableness raises serious concerns about transparency.

"In the recent past, domestic carriers have charged as much as Rs. 60,000 on the Mumbai-Delhi route, which lies within the Ministry's own 1,000-1,500 km band where the notified ceiling is Rs 15,000 under the 06.12.2025 order," he said.

The lawmaker said the DGCA has maintained that its Tariff Monitoring Unit "ensures that the airfares charged by the airlines are within the established tariff of the airlines," but this did not prevent airlines from altering their "so-called established tariffs" overnight to justify extreme surges.

"Similar concerns arise during festive seasons, particularly during Onam, when flights to Kerala are consistently priced far above regular fares, effectively penalising passengers who travel home during culturally significant periods," he said.

The ministry must undertake a comprehensive intervention, given the inconsistencies and the hardship faced by passengers and aviation workers alike, Sandosh Kumar said.

"The 2025 order already provides a legal and administrative foundation for fare caps and it should now be accompanied by a clear and publicly articulated definition of what the Ministry considers to be stable fares and reasonable pricing, so that airlines cannot exploit ambiguity," he said.

The CPI leader urged the ministry to act decisively to safeguard passengers and ensure that private airlines are held to reasonable, transparent, and accountable fare standards. PTI AO VN VN