NEW DELHI: The government plans to cap economy and business class airfares charged by domestic airlines as it is looking for ways to curb predatory pricing.
“Even if we talk about the issue in Parliament, out of the 543 Parliamentarians, I am sure at least 500 would say that there should be a capping,” Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Civil Aviation said on Thursday.
There have been calls from various quarters, including from MPs, for some mechanism to control skyrocketing domestic airfares, especially for those who have to finalise their travel plans at short notice.
Interestingly a recent study of domestic airfares undertaken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on airfare movements in 2014 showed that the average ticket price during peak demand seasons was closer to the minimum fare.
Sharma said efforts would be made to take airlines into confidence on the matter. “We will take airlines into confidence and we will request them if the share from predatory pricing is very less then why don’t hold it,” he added.
“When the Nepal crisis happened, we fixed the (Air India ticket) price at RS 4,500 and others were forced to keep it at that level,” the minister added.