India imposes temporary fare caps amid IndiGo meltdown, targets opportunistic airline pricing

Acting on rising complaints over soaring domestic airfares, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday imposed temporary fare caps on airlines, warning carriers of strict action for violations during the ongoing disruption in services. The intervention follows days of turmoil at IndiGo, the country’s largest domestic airline, which has been forced to cancel hundreds of flights nationwide each day.

The ministry said it has "taken note of concerns regarding unusually high airfares being charged by certain airlines during ongoing disruption", prompting an urgent regulatory intervention. The ministry said that an "official directive issued to all airlines" now mandates "strict adherence to fare caps that have now been prescribed".

IndiGo flight cancellation list today: Check affected flights


Emphasising enforcement, the ministry cautioned that "any deviation from prescribed norms will attract immediate corrective action in the larger public interest". These caps, it added, are a temporary control measure and "will remain in force until the situation fully stabilises".

The severe reduction in IndiGo's capacity has sent domestic airfares soaring across carriers, with passengers rushing to secure whatever seats remain available.

IndiGo disruption causes huge chaos in Hyderabad, railways gets into swift action mode

In just four days, IndiGo has scrapped more than 1,000 flights, disrupting operations at major airports such as Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, where hundreds of arrivals and departures have been pulled from schedules in quick succession.

The airline has been thrown into a deep operational crisis, largely driven by an acute shortage of crew following the rollout of the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms. As the chaos escalated, the Centre intervened, eventually withdrawing the recently introduced weekly-rest requirement for pilots in an effort to stabilise operations after the wave of mass cancellations.