Centre rolls back 60% free flight seat allocation order weeks after announcement

THe civic air power ministry on th suspended a directive requiring airlines to permit passengers select at to the lowest degree 60% of seats on any flight without a seat-selection fee, less than three weeks after announcing the rule as part of a passenger rights push.The ministry of civil aviation said the provision would be kept “in abeyance till further orders” pending a “comprehensive examination of the issue,” according to a letter dated April 2 addressed to the Director General of Civil Aviation.The ministry said the rollback followed representations from the Federation of Indian Airlines and Akasa Air, which flagged the rule’s potential impact on fare structures and its consistency with India’s deregulated tariff regime. The government separately announced it will cap monthly increases in aviation turbine fuel prices for domestic flights at 25%, with both measures seemingly linked to the financial turbulence caused by surging oil prices and route restrictions linked to the West Asia conflict.The original March 17 circular had directed scheduled airlines to allocate a minimum 60% of seats without a selection charge on every flight, and to seat passengers sharing a booking together, preferably in adjacent seats. The ministry had framed the measures as a step toward strengthening passenger convenience and standardising practices across the sector.Thursday’s order does not affect other provisions of the March 17 circular. The DGCA has been asked to continue enforcing rules on co-seating of passengers on the same PNR, transparent policies for carriage of sports equipment, musical instruments and pets, and clear disclosure of applicable charges.Indian carriers currently charge ancillary fees for seat selection during web check-in, with only between 5% and 15% of seats on a typical flight available without an additional charge. Seats toward the front of the aircraft and window seats are usually priced higher.The FIA, whose members include Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, wrote to the ministry on March 19 arguing the directive would backfire on passengers. It warned airlines would simply recover lost ancillary income through higher base fares.FIA also cited a 2017 Delhi High Court ruling that preferential seating is a valid unbundled service and DGCA has no authority to fix or cap its price as long as the service is optional, transparently disclosed and non-discriminatory. It further argued the directive contradicted the government’s own 2024 Air Transport Circular, which had endorsed unbundling as a mechanism to keep base fares affordable.