The civil aviation ministry is considering a cap on last minute economy class fares after members of Parliament criticised the recent price hikes by airlines.
The limit may be set at Rs 20,000. "Severe criticism is there from many quarters, including members of Parliament, tour operators, passengers, etc, that the airline companies are charging very high fares on the immediate day preceding travel and the date of actual travel," the ministry said in an internal note.
"A large number of complaints of high air fares are being received from the Jammu and Kashmir, the North East, Andaman and Nicobar and various other places in the country," it added.
Airlines have raised spot fares by at least 40-50% in the last few weeks in the high-demand holiday week, starting Christmas. The shrinking of operations by beleaguered carrier SpiceJet, which has led to recent fare wars in the country, also gave them a free hand to raise rates. Fares have risen more on sectors such as the North East, in which airlines deploy limited capacity.
However, Domestic airline companies are gearing up to oppose the civil aviation ministry’s move to impose a cap of Rs 20,000 on economy class fares. According to them, the government should first lower taxes and ease airlines’ cost pressures.
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