NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that the rules on airfares under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, have been finalised and have received administrative approval and will be published within two weeks.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a PIL filed by activist S. Laxminarayanan, seeking regulation of airfares and prevention of exorbitant and arbitrary pricing by airlines, especially during festivals, natural disasters and peak travel seasons.
Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati told the bench that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has finalised the Bharatiya Vayuyan Rules, which include all the detailed provisions for airfare regulation, transparency and passenger facilitation.
She submitted that the rules have received administrative approval and are currently in the final stage of vetting by the Legislative Department and will be published in the official gazette within two weeks.
Bhati also informed the court that the new rules will mandate airlines to publish fare charts, ensure transparency in pricing, establish a mechanism for monitoring predatory pricing and provide for passenger grievance redressal.
She said the rules will also prescribe a ceiling for the highest fare bucket on each route, to be revised periodically based on fuel prices, operational costs and inflation, to ensure fares remain within reasonable limits.
The PIL had alleged that airlines were charging exorbitant fares, sometimes 10 times the normal fare, taking advantage of surging demand, leaving passengers with no effective remedy and no transparent mechanism for fare determination.
It had sought a direction to the Centre and the DGCA to ensure airlines do not indulge in price gouging and to frame guidelines for fair and transparent pricing.
The bench took note of the Centre's submission and asked it to place the notified rules on record once published and to file a compliance affidavit explaining how grievances will be addressed.
The court eventually posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.
The bench has been hearing the matter since January, when the judges called festive fare surges "exploitative". It noted that no authority currently has the power to cap or review airfares. In May, the Court said fares must be rationalised. In July, the Centre said the draft rules were ready, and the Court asked for them to be submitted in a sealed cover.
In August, the Court told the Centre to ground airlines that do not comply with fare norms. The Ministry told the Court that airlines had been issued office memorandums on pricing but were not following them. The draft rules cover airfares, surge pricing and excess baggage charges.
As per a survey conducted by LocalCircles, nearly 20,000 responses were received from air travellers located in 277 districts of India.
Despite the surge, Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu said last month that the government would not cap fares this festive season. The Ministry has instead asked airlines to keep fares reasonable during peak demand. It has cited higher fuel costs due to the West Asia crisis as a key pressure.