New Delhi, 6 December: The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday imposed temporary caps on domestic airfares after widespread flight disruptions triggered more than 2,000 cancellations since Tuesday, resulting in severe capacity shortages and an unprecedented spike in ticket prices across several routes.
Under the new price ceilings taking immediate effect, airlines are barred from charging more than Rs 7,500 for flights up to 500 km, Rs 12,000 for those between 500 and 1,000 km, Rs 15,000 for routes spanning 1,000 to 1,500 km, and Rs 18,000 for any sector exceeding 1,500 km.
Typically flights from Delhi to Mumbai cover about 1,100 km, Delhi to Kolkata roughly 1,300 km, and Delhi to Trivandrum stretch to nearly 2,200 km.
The ministry said it had acted “in the public interest” to curb the “unreasonable surge” in fares after cascading operational problems, primarily at IndiGo but also affecting other carriers, led to chaotic scenes at airports nationwide, including in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata.
Passengers faced hours-long delays, abrupt cancellations, and skyrocketing last-minute fares, in some cases touching Rs 25,000 to Rs 70,000 on popular metro routes as cancellations and delays of upto 12 hours mounted.
Indigo which has been suffering the most cancellations said in a press release that its cancellations on Saturday “has dropped below 850 flights,” adding that it was addressing demands from customers for refunds and appealed that passengers checked their flight updates timely.
Government said the caps annnounced exclude UDF, PSF, and taxes and do not apply to Business Class fares or RCS-UDAN regional flights. The limits will stay in force “until fares stabilise or till further review.”
The government said the intervention was necessary after airlines were found charging 4–5 times the normal fare amid the ongoing disruptions.
On Sunday, the cheapest non-IndiGo economy-class ticket from Delhi to Mumbai was selling for over Rs 22,000, while IndiGo, despite suffering the highest number of cancellations, listed fares exceeding Rs 14,000.
Airlines have been directed to ensure uniform pricing across all booking channels, maintain ticket availability across all fare buckets, and consider deploying additional capacity on routes witnessing sudden demand spikes.
The ministry added that fare levels will now be monitored in real time, in coordination with online travel platforms, and warned that any violation would invite swift corrective action.
In a separate but related order, the government instructed IndiGo to clear all pending passenger refunds by 8 pm on Sunday, December 7, following the widespread disruptions.
Airlines have also been barred from levying rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected.
IndiGo has been told to set up dedicated refund facilitation cells to proactively contact customers, process automatic refunds, arrange alternate travel, and trace and deliver all misplaced baggage within 48 hours, with compensation as mandated under passenger rights rules.
Officials said the measures were intended to safeguard passengers, particularly senior citizens, students, people with disabilities, and medical travellers, from financial distress during the peak holiday and wedding travel season.
The government reiterated its ‘zero-inconvenience’ approach, saying oversight had been intensified to ensure proper assistance at airports and rapid restoration of normalcy.
Meanwhile, in a move aimed at easing operational pressures on the airline, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday approved IndiGo’s request for temporary relaxation of two provisions under Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) until February 10, 2026.
Airlines argued that recent changes to FDTL norms, introduced during the winter schedule, had worsened existing pilot shortages and destabilised rostering nationwide.
With disruptions continuing and demand rising sharply, officials said the government remains in continuous coordination with airlines, airports, and security agencies to stabilise operations and restore full normalcy as swiftly as possible.
