Jagran News Network, New Delhi. Recently, due to the arbitrariness of Indigo Airlines, thousands of air passengers had to face a lot of trouble. Meanwhile, due to the huge demand for tickets, the fares also increased wildly, causing a double blow to the passengers.
Seeing this, the government intervened and set a limit for airfares. But a survey by 'Local Circles' has revealed that the airlines did not follow the government's instructions and six out of every 10 passengers who booked tickets after December 6 got more than the actual fare limit. Due to the profiteering of airlines companies, people were forced to buy tickets at higher prices. People also complained about this on internet media platforms.
How much fare did the government fix?
Let us tell you that the Civil Aviation Ministry has temporarily fixed the limit on air fares from December 6. Under this, the maximum 'base fare' has been fixed at Rs 7,500 for distance up to 500 km, Rs 12,000 for 500-1,000 km, Rs 15,000 for 1,000-1,500 km and Rs 18,000 for more than 1,500 km. The ministry had clearly warned that strict action would be taken against violations.
What came out in the survey?
However, the experience of passengers is the opposite. In a national survey conducted by LocalCircles, in which 25,519 passengers from 291 districts participated, 59 per cent passengers said fare capping was not being followed. Overall, 6 out of 10 passengers say that even after December 6, airlines are charging fares more than the prescribed limit.
IndiGo, Air India, Akasa Air and SpiceJet all showed base fares exceeding the Rs 15,000 limit on routes like Delhi-Kolkata and Mumbai-Bhubaneswar, according to the survey and available booking examples. This is when Air India and Air India Express had publicly claimed to be adhering to the capping and had also assured to refund the fare difference.
Survey of local circles
What do the experts say?
Experts say that due to the irregularities of IndiGo, there has already been additional burden on the passengers and now the weak monitoring of fare capping has also raised questions on the credibility of the government. Unless technology-based monitoring and stringent punishment mechanisms are implemented, it is difficult to curb the arbitrariness and profiteering of airlines. This is causing direct loss to both the trust and pockets of the passengers.
Also read: Big decision of IndiGo, passengers stranded at the airport on 3-5 December will get a refund of more than Rs 500 crore.