Govt Airfare Cap Meant To Control Prices Backfires As Airlines Exploit Loophole On Connecting Flights

IndiGo Crisis: The Civil Aviation Ministry’s emergency fare cap imposed on December 6 to stop airlines from fleecing passengers after the IndiGo crisis has hit a major roadblock.

While ticket prices on major direct metro routes have come under control, passengers on smaller cities and connecting flights are still being charged 3–4 times the capped amount.

Airlines Exploit Loopholes

The ministry’s order clearly caps maximum base fares only on direct flights. Airlines immediately exploit this loophole and declared that the cap does not apply to connecting flights, Resulting in-

-Chandigarh, Leh, Agartala, Dibrugarh, Pune, Gorakhpur, Kangra and dozens of other sectors with few or no direct flights are seeing one-way tickets priced at Rs 40,000– Rs 80,000 even after the cap.

-A single connecting journey is being sold as two or three separate legs, each priced near or at the maximum allowed limit.

Third-Party Apps Make Airfare Worse

Interestingly, the same connecting ticket often appears 30–50 per cent cheaper on the airline’s own website or app compared to popular OTAs (MakeMyTrip, Yatra, EaseMyTrip, etc).

Industry sources say airlines and OTAs are quietly splitting the extra commission while passengers feel cheated.

According to a report by Jagran.com, an Air India official said, “Connecting flights involve two or more sectors, so the total naturally becomes higher. Plus, some OTAs are inflating prices because demand is sky-high.”

The ministry has taken note of widespread complaints and is likely to issue clarified guidelines or an amended order within days to close the loophole and extend the fare cap to the total journey cost, irrespective of direct or connecting flights. Until then, travellers to smaller towns continue to pay the price, literally.