MoCA Ensures Fair Fares Amid IndiGo Crisis

MoCA invokes its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken serious note of concerns. These concerns involve unusually high airfares charged by certain airlines. This issue has arisen during the ongoing disruption. The Ministry wants to protect passengers from any form of opportunistic pricing. It has invoked its regulatory powers. This action ensures fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes.

These caps will be in force till IndiGo operations are back to pre-crisis levels. This is something expected by Dec 15 now. The government has kept new flight duty norms for pilots on hold. These norms are meant to improve flight safety. This is to enable the airline to get back on its feet.

Ministry of Civil Aviation has directed IndiGo to clear all pending passenger refunds without delay. The process must be completed for all cancelled or disrupted flights by 8 PM on 7 December 2025. Airlines have been instructed not to levy rescheduling charges for affected passengers and any non-compliance will invite regulatory action.

IndiGo has been asked to set up dedicated passenger support and refund cells. They must ensure proactive outreach. Additionally, they should maintain automatic refunds until operations stabilise.

The Ministry has also directed timely tracing and home delivery of separated baggage within 48 hours. Oversight has been strengthened. This is to ensure zero inconvenience to passengers. Special focus is given to senior citizens, differently-abled passengers, and those requiring urgent travel.

Passengers struggle continues

This development may have come way too late for lakhs of passengers. They had IndiGo tickets for travel from earlier this week. The airline started cancelling hundreds of flights. This will continue till mid-December when IndiGo expects to normalise operations. These passengers had to cancel their IndiGo tickets. They then bought tickets on other airlines like Air India, AI Express, Akasa, and SpiceJet. The fares they paid were sky-high. Throughout this crisis, the aviation ministry has been nothing but a mute spectator. Their statements during the IndiGo crisis bear no resemblance to ground reality at airports” fumed Srivastava.

There are lakhs of passengers in this peak travel season who have suffered. The math is against passengers: IndiGo has almost 65% domestic market share. This peak season, before the crisis, was seeing over five lakh daily domestic flyers. After the crisis, most travellers are chasing the remaining 35% domestic share airlines. This will continue until IndiGo operations are back to normal, which is expected by Dec 15. With such a demand-supply mismatch, fares have zoomed.

Also read: IndiGo flight cancellations mount across India: Who is the real culprit?

An official directive requires all airlines to strictly adhere to the fare caps. These caps have now been prescribed. These caps will remain in force until the situation fully stabilises. The directive aims to maintain pricing discipline in the market. It seeks to prevent any exploitation of passengers in distress. The directive also ensures that citizens who urgently need to travel are not subjected to financial hardship during this period. This includes senior citizens, students, and patients.

The Ministry will closely monitor fare levels through real-time data. It will actively coordinate with airlines and online travel platforms. Any deviation from the prescribed norms will attract immediate corrective action in the larger public interest.