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There has been anger among the common passengers for a long time regarding the uncontrolled and skyrocketing prices of air tickets across the country. A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court against the trend of charging arbitrary fares by airlines during festivals, holidays and emergency situations. In this petition, the unexpected increase in air fares of up to seven hundred percent by the airlines was challenged. However, the Supreme Court of the country has clearly refused to give judicial intervention on this issue. During the important hearing held on Monday, a bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath took a strong stand on the arguments of the petitioner and dismissed the case and clearly indicated that interference of the judiciary in determining the fares related to the commercial market is not appropriate.
After this strict comment of the court, middle class passengers and people who travel by air frequently have got a big shock. There was a demand for a long time that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation i.e. DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation should set an upper limit on air fares so that private airlines cannot take advantage of the compulsion of passengers and earn arbitrary profits. But the apex court refused to pass any kind of relief order considering this matter as a policy and market based system, after which the debate regarding the dynamic pricing system of fares in the aviation sector has once again intensified.
When the matter came up for hearing before the bench of Justice Vikram Nath on Monday, the petitioner’s counsel raised strong questions over the pricing policy of the airlines. Presenting data of various air routes in the court, the lawyer argued that air fares are increased wildly and unrealistically by up to 700 percent during peak seasons and festive occasions as compared to normal days. He argued before the court that in modern times, air travel is no longer just a means of luxury, but it has become a time-saving and essential service for emergency situations. Such an unequal and arbitrary increase in ticket rates is a direct violation of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution i.e. the fundamental right to equality, because it deprives a large section of the right to travel.
After listening to these emotional and legal arguments of the lawyer, Justice Vikram Nath gave a very brief, sharp and blunt response. The bench said bluntly, “Don’t travel by air. Next case.” With this short and strong remark, the bench closed the file of the case and started hearing the next petition directly without issuing any notice or passing any order. This stand of the Supreme Court made it clear that the court does not view air travel as a constitutional right or a fundamental civil right which should be made available at concessional rates through court orders. If a passenger finds the fare expensive, he or she is free to use alternative transport modes.
Amidst this strict stance of the Supreme Court, the situation regarding air fares has become completely clear at the level of the Aviation Ministry and the Central Government. The Central Government has recently officially notified the ‘Indian Aircraft Rules, 2026’. According to the official gazette issued by the ministry, these new rules will be formally implemented across the country from January 1, 2027. After the arrival of these new rules, passengers were hoping that the government would make some strict legal system to control the fares, but the new guidelines have also kept the control in the hands of the airlines.
The Government will continue to maintain its existing de-regulated and open market policy as per the provisions of the notified rules. It has been clarified in the new rules that the entire structure of air fares will depend only on the forces of demand and supply of the market. On routes where the number of passengers is high and the availability of seats is less, prices will automatically increase and where the demand is less, tickets will be cheaper. The Civil Aviation Ministry has completely rejected any plan of imposing any kind of general upper limit i.e. price cap on daily fares of airlines companies or imposing direct price control.
However, the government has included a special protective provision in the new rules so that passengers cannot be exploited in case of any major disaster occurring in the country. Under the ‘Indian Airlines Rules 2026’, it has been made clear that the government will not interfere in the pricing strategy of airlines in normal times, but only if there is a war, natural disaster, epidemic or major crisis of national level in the country and it becomes unavoidable to do so in the public interest, only then will the government intervene. In such extraordinary circumstances, the Central Government will have the exclusive right to temporarily fix the maximum limit of tickets.
Aviation experts believe that the way the government implemented fare bands for a limited time during the Corona epidemic, government control can be seen in the future only in extreme circumstances. In normal times, airlines will continue to work entirely on algorithm and AI based dynamic pricing models. What this simply means is that passengers will have to be mentally prepared to dig deep into their pockets during Diwali, Chhath Puja, Christmas, New Year and summer holidays, as neither courts nor government rules are going to stop airlines from charging higher fares in the peak season.