Exploitation of distressed passengers: Govt caps airfares to contain price surge amid IndiGo chaos
The Civil Aviation Ministry in a statement said it has taken serious note of concerns regarding "unusually high airfares" being charged by certain airlines during the ongoing disruption.
New Delhi: As airfares of several airlines shoot up amid the ongoing IndiGo crisis, the Centre on Saturday pulled up the airlines for what it called "opportunistic pricing" and announced capping of flight ticket prices to contain the surge and "prevent any exploitation of passengers in distress". Airfares of several airlines on certain routes skyrocketed after the cancellation of more than 1,000 IndiGo flights over the last five days.
The Civil Aviation Ministry, in a statement, said it has taken serious note of concerns regarding "unusually high airfares" being charged by certain airlines during the ongoing disruption.
Govt's directive to all airlines
"In order to protect passengers from any form of opportunistic pricing, the Ministry has invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes," the statement read.
The ministry issued an official directive to all airlines mandating strict adherence to the fare caps that have now been prescribed. These caps will remain in force until the situation fully stabilises, it said.
It further said that the objective of the directive is to "maintain pricing discipline in the market, prevent any exploitation of passengers in distress, and ensure that citizens who urgently need to travel — including senior citizens, students, and patients — are not subjected to financial hardship during this period".
The ministry said it will continue to closely monitor fare levels through real-time data and active coordination with airlines and online travel platforms. It also warned of "immediate corrective action" if there is any deviation from the prescribed norms.
Govt orders IndiGo to clear passenger refunds
In a separate statement, the ministry said that it directed IndiGo to clear all passenger refunds without delay. It also said that failure to comply may result in further investigation and punitive action.
"The Ministry has mandated that the refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be fully completed by 8:00 pm on Sunday, 7 December 2025. Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations," the statement said.
Furthermore, the ministry has established a 24x7 helpline and instructed the airline to arrange for hotels, meals, and alternative transportation for affected passengers. Instructions have also been given to deliver baggage left at the airports to customers within 48 hours. Customers will need to be contacted by phone, and the baggage will have to be delivered to their homes, the ministry said.
Why is IndiGo facing flight cancellations
IndiGo, India's largest airline, has been hit by an operational crisis mainly due to a shortage of pilots. The airline has claimed that multiple flight cancellations were driven by the new pilot duty norms. It also admitted that it did not anticipate the crisis due to planning gaps in implementing the latest roster rules.
By when IndiGo issue be resolved
While IndiGo said that the issue will not be resolved overnight and that it was trying its best to bring the operations back to normal at the earliest, the airline's CEO said that the "full normalisation of domestic flight operations was expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations."