Parliamentary committee expressed concern over charging arbitrary air fare, recommended fixing lower-upper band

Air Fare Hike: Ever since the central government has again handed over the right to fix air fares to the airlines, there has been a tremendous jump in air fares. On August 31, 2022, the government again handed over the right to fix air fares to the airlines, after which there was a tremendous increase in air fares during Diwali, Dussehra, Chhath, Christmas and New Year holidays. Now the Standing Committee of the Parliament has raised questions regarding the increase in air fares. The committee has recommended the government to impose a cap on the upper and lower limit of air fares.

Lower-Upper Limit on Air Fare

The committee said in its report that on one hand the government talks about making air travel affordable for the common people and increasing air capacity. At the same time, more aircraft are not being included so that the capacity can be increased. In the absence of airlines, when the demand increases, there is a tremendous jump in air fares. In such a situation, the committee said in its recommendation that the Ministry of Civil Aviation should have a way to fix the upper and lower limit of air fares so that airlines can neither sell cheap air tickets nor charge huge fares.

DGCA should regulate air fare

The committee said that it is very important to keep in mind the interests of the air passengers along with the commercial interests of the airlines. So that private airlines can move forward as well as the interests of passengers can be protected. The committee said that in the name of commercialization, air passengers should not be given a chance to loot. The standing committee has asked the ministry to prepare such a pricing mechanism to fix air fares so that airlines cannot charge huge fares from passengers. The committee has also recommended handing over the authority to regulate air fares to the aviation sector regulator DGCA. And the passenger should also have such an option that he can file a complaint against the airlines with the DGCA.

The government had fixed the air fare band during the Korana period

When the government again gave the green signal to air travel during the lockdown during the Corona period, the government started regulating air fares. Airlines were flying with low capacity during the Corona period. In such a situation, the central government had fixed the lower and upper band of air fare according to the time of air travel, so that the airlines could not take undue advantage of the opportunity and could not charge arbitrary fares from the passengers. But from August 31, 2022, the government again handed over the right to decide the air fare to the airlines. After which it is seen that there has been a tremendous jump in the air fares. After August 31, there was a tremendous increase in air fare on festivals, wedding season and new year. Regarding which the Standing Committee of the Parliament is also looking worried.

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