Airlines misguiding passengers, forcing them to pay more: Parliamentary panel

The exorbitant airfares certain domestic airlines are charging have drawn the attention of a Parliamentary Standing Committee, which concluded that these companies are misguiding the public and pushing passengers to pay more.

The Committee also pointed out the inaccurate information provided by the private airlines on their websites regarding the number of seats left on the flight and the cost of the tickets, according to an IANS report.

The panel said in the Demand for Grants (2023-24) report of the Civil Aviation Ministry, “The level of misinformation can be gauged from the fact that even after the last tickets have been sold, the same number of seats shown on the website, as indicated before the tickets sale. This indicates that airline operators are misguiding the public and forcing passengers to pay more.”

Taking this behaviour by the airlines into account, it was advised that the Ministry should create appropriate guidelines regarding the rationalisation of fares and the publication of accurate information on airline websites.

The report also states, “A particular airline may sell its air tickets at such a low level that other competitors cannot compete and are forced to exit the market. A company that does this will see initial losses, but eventually, it benefits by driving competition out of the market and raising its prices again.”

The Committee wanted to know if the DGCA, the agency that regulates aviation, had ever stepped in to verify the prices of airline tickets. It also raised concern about the fact that private airlines in the domestic market charge various prices for flights that are travelling in the same sector, route, and direction. This is especially true for the northeastern region and hilly regions, such as Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, where domestic flight ticket costs may exceed even those charged by foreign airlines.

The Committee also took note of the fact that after the repeal of the Air Corporations Act 1953, airfare is market driven and depends on market fares, and is neither established nor regulated by the government. 

"It notes the DGCA's comments that the airfares were regulated for a fixed period during the Covid pandemic in compliance with Aircraft Act, 1934 and the regulation was withdrawn as the Covid pandemic abated and that airlines are free to fix reasonable tariffs under the Aircraft Rules, 1937, with regard to cost of operation, services, reasonable profit and generally prevailing tariff," said the report.

(With agency inputs)

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