India Caps Domestic Flight Prices After IndiGo Flight Disruptions
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has implemented fare caps on domestic flight routes in response to significant flight cancellations by IndiGo, which led to soaring prices and passenger inconvenience.
Government Intervention
The ministry issued order no 01/2025, citing severe capacity constraints and "unreasonable surge" in fares as the reasons for intervention. The government aims to protect the public interest by imposing temporary maximum fare limits on all scheduled domestic flights.
New Fare Limits
Here's a breakdown of the new fare caps, excluding applicable UDF, PSF, and taxes. These caps do not apply to Business Class or RCS-UDAN flights:
- Routes up to 500 km: Maximum fare of Rs 7,500
- Routes between 500โ1,000 km: Maximum fare of Rs 12,000
- Routes between 1,000โ1,500 km: Maximum fare of Rs 15,000
- Routes above 1,500 km: Maximum fare of Rs 18,000
Uniform Application and Capacity Management
The fare caps must be applied uniformly across all booking platforms, including airline websites and online travel agents. Airlines are also instructed to ensure consistent ticket availability across different fare categories and consider increasing capacity on high-demand routes.
Duration and Monitoring
These fare restrictions will remain in effect until prices stabilize or until further review by the government.
Reason for Intervention
The directive follows large-scale flight cancellations that have stranded thousands of passengers and created seat shortages on busy domestic routes. IndiGo, which typically operates over 2,200 flights daily, had cancelled over 1,000 flights by Friday.
Government Statement
The aviation ministry stated that strict adherence to the fare caps is mandatory. The objective is to maintain pricing discipline, prevent passenger exploitation, and ensure that those who urgently need to travel are not subjected to financial hardship.
The ministry will actively monitor fare levels and coordinate with airlines and online travel platforms. Deviations from the prescribed norms will result in immediate corrective action.
