Probe charges of abrupt hike in airfares faced by MPs: Speaker to aviation minister

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday asked civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu to probe allegations of sudden fare hike when MPs try to book air tickets, saying similar complaints raised by several lawmakers are extremely “serious and worrying”.

Taking note of a query by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) lawmaker Dayanidhi Maran during the Question Hour on the alleged abrupt fare hike faced by MPs while booking a ticket, Birla said: “...the MP has raised a very serious issue… this matter is extremely serious and worrying and has been raised by many MPs. It should be investigated…”

In response, Naidu said: “We will get the matter investigated. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) looks after the rights of passengers but it also has a tariff monitoring unit. We will ensure that such incidents are not repeated.”

He added: “Customer is king and that is the priority of the ministry. We will do whatever we can to make the air travel affordable…”

Raising the issue in the Lower House, Maran alleged that whenever he tries to book a ticket on Air Vistara for the Chennai-Delhi route, the airline initially shows a price in the range of around ₹33,000 one way. “But just before making the payment, an error message is displayed and then the fare is revised. The new fare goes up to ₹93,000,” he said.

“The airline belongs to Tatas and the software the airline uses also belongs to the Tata group. This is happening because the Tatas are using its supremacy in the software… This happens very frequently,” he added.

Maran also claimed the matter doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of DGCA since the civil aviation regulator is only concerned with flight cancellation or rescheduling.

Meanwhile, Naidu also said he will look into the allegations of high air fare during holiday season on international routes. “As far as regulation of airfare is concerned, the government does not regulate the fares set by airlines- Indian or foreign. The fares on any route are dependent on seasonality, holidays and festivals, cost of aviation turbine fuel, competition and other similar factors.”