New Delhi: Private airlines are misleading the public by publishing wrong information on their websites about available seats and ticket fares and forcing them to pay more, a parliamentary committee report noted.
In its report on the demands for grants of the Ministry of Civil Aviation submitted on March 6, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture raised concerns about the high fares charged by private airlines in the domestic sector.
The Committee said private airlines publish “wrong information” on their websites on the number of seats left on the flight and the prices of the tickets. “The level of misinformation can be gauged from the fact that even after the last tickets have been sold, the same number of seats show on the website, as indicated before the tickets sale,” the report noted. “This indicates that airline operators are misguiding the public and forcing passengers to pay more.”
The Committee, therefore, recommended that the Ministry of Civil Aviation develop appropriate guidelines to rationalise airfares and mandate airlines to publish correct information on their websites.
The Committee also expressed concern at many domestic airlines resorting to ‘predatory pricing’. In this scenario, an airline sells tickets at such a low price that other competitors cannot compete and are forced to exit the market; later they hike the rates far higher, as the competition is eliminated.
The civil aviation ministry told the committee that after the repeal of the Air Corporations Act, 1953 in March 1994, the Indian domestic aviation market has been deregulated and consequently, airfare is market driven. “Airline pricing runs in multiple levels {buckets or Reservation Booking Designator (RBDs)} which are in line with the practice being followed globally. Due to dynamic fare pricing, the tickets bought in advance are much cheaper than those purchased near the date of travel. The airlines are free to fix reasonable tariffs under the provisions of sub-rule (1) of Rule 135 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937,” the ministry said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has a Tariff Monitoring Unit that monitors airfares on certain routes on monthly basis to ensure that the airlines do not charge airfares outside a range declared by them, the ministry added.
Representative image. Photo: PTI
Improve connectivity to remote areas
While the Committee commended the ministry in its plans to start 58 airports, especially in the remote northeast, the islands and areas that are hilly and have tribal communities, it highlighted that private airlines are also charging different fares for the same sector, route and direction of flights, especially for the northeast and hilly areas including Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The prices of domestic sector tickets are sometimes even more than that of international airline sector prices, it noted. The Committee also recommended that the ministry concentrate efforts to improve air connectivity in the country, especially in the northeast, hills and islands including Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which are hotspots for tourism.
Further, under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), launched by the Ministry in 2016 to facilitate regional air connectivity by making it more affordable in several ways including concessions by the central and state government as well as airport operators, there were operational flights to and from Kerala. However, these flights were stopped without citing any reasons, the Committee noted, adding that it would like to know the reasons for this discontinuation of RCS flights in Kerala. The number of passengers that benefited from the RCS had grown to 33 lakh in 2021-22, but it has again come down to 20 lakh as on January 31 this year. The Committee would like to know the reasons for this too, and the steps being taken to improve this, it said.
Details of public money
The committee also noted that during the disinvestment of Air India, the government had provided financial assistance amounting to around Rs 64,026 crore in the form of equity to Air India Assets Holding Limited (a company incorporated by the Government of India as a Special Purpose Vehicle for the sole aim of disinvesting in Air India). But following this, the government received only a cash component of Rs. 2,700 crore and retained a debt of Rs 15,300 crore, the Committee said.
“The Committee would like to know the details of the actual revenue the Government has generated by disinvesting a massive company like Air India, as financial support given for closure of strategic disinvestment of Air India amounting to Rs. 64,026.40/- crore is nothing but public money,” it noted.
Per the report, the Committee also reviewed the issues related to congestion at various airports including Delhi and Mumbai. Such issues at major airports “reflect poor planning”, the Committee noted, urging the ministry to issue appropriate guidelines to the concerned airport operators to address it.
The Committee also urged the ministry to ensure that it implements all the ten accessibility features as prescribed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for disabled passengers, and that more airports be included as part of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (currently, only one – Dholera in Gujarat – is listed under the Plan).