New Delhi, Dec 6 (UNI) In an unusually swift regulatory intervention, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Friday imposed temporary caps on domestic airfares at a maximum of Rs 18,000 for flights covering more than 1,500 km.
This happened after flight disruptions triggered widespread cancellations, capacity shortages, and a sharp spike in ticket prices across several routes.
In an order the ministry of civil aviation said it had acted “in the public interest” to curb “unreasonable surge” in fares caused by cascading operational problems at the unnamed airline.
Under the new ceilings, airlines cannot charge more than Rs 7,500 for flights up to 500 km, Rs 12,000 for 500–1,000 km, Rs 15,000 for 1,000–1,500 km, and Rs 18,000 for routes longer than 1,500 km.
The caps exclude applicable User Development Fee (UDF), Passenger Service Fee (PSF), and taxes.
The order clarified that the limits will not apply to Business Class fares or to RCS-UDAN regional flights.
The fare caps which will go into effect immediately, will remain in force “until fares stabilise or till further review,” according to the ministry. They will apply uniformly across all booking channels, airline websites, travel portals, and offline agents, and for every category of economy-class sale.
Airlines have also been instructed to maintain ticket availability across all fare buckets and consider adding capacity on routes where demand spikes sharply.
The ministry’s move comes at a time when passengers across the country have been reporting skyrocketing last-minute fares, in some cases crossing Rs 25,000 and upto Rs 70,000 on popular metro routes. With the holiday and wedding travel season ramping up, officials said stabilising the market had become an urgent necessity.
