Air India says it capped fares ahead of govt order amid spike in ticket prices

AIr bharat on sabbatum said it has already been limiting fares on domestic help routes, shortly after the Ministry of civic air power (MoCA) imposed a temporary cap to curb steep ticket prices triggered by the ongoing disruption across the aviation sector.In a statement, the airline clarified that it has been capping economy fares on all non-stop domestic flights since December 4. “Air India & Air India Express clarify that, since 4 December, economy class airfares on non-stop domestic flights have been proactively capped to prevent the usual demand-and-supply mechanism being applied by revenue management systems,” the spokesperson said.The airline’s statement came shortly after the government directed all carriers to comply with newly prescribed fare caps to prevent excessive pricing on disrupted routes.Air India also acknowledged screenshots circulating online that show significantly higher fares on multi-stop itineraries or combinations involving different cabin classes.“We are aware of screenshots of last-minute itineraries with one-stop or two-stop flights or a combination of economy and premium economy or business cabins taken from third party platforms. It is not technically possible to cap all such permutations, but we are engaging such platforms to exercise oversight,” the statement added.Amid the travel chaos, the airline said it is trying to increase capacity to ease the load on passengers.“Air India and Air India Express are seeking to add capacity to help travellers and their baggage reach their destinations as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said.Govt steps in to regulate faresEarlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry announced it had invoked its regulatory powers to enforce “fair” and “reasonable” ticket prices on all impacted routes.The move comes as several passengers flagged unusually high fares following massive cancellations by IndiGo, which has scrapped at least 1,600 flights over the past week due to what the government described as mismanagement of crew rostering.The ministry said the intervention was necessary to prevent “opportunistic pricing” during the ongoing sector-wide disruption.“The Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken serious note of concerns regarding unusually high airfares being charged by certain airlines during the ongoing disruption. In order to protect passengers from any form of opportunistic pricing, the Ministry has invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes,” the ministry said in a statement.“These caps will remain in force until the situation fully stabilises,” it added.The ministry said it has issued a formal order directing all airlines to follow the newly prescribed fare caps. It did not, however, disclose the specific limits fixed for the carriers.