Faring badly

There is no rationale for the drastic increase in air fares proposed by some airline companies on domestic routes. The sudden spurt in fares has caught national attention in the last one month when they were hiked exorbitantly during the traffic-heavy festival season. This prospect looms large in the coming weeks of Christmas and New Year rush too. The increases will make air travel unaffordable for most middle class passengers, who were mainly responsible for the growth of the sector in the last few years. A Delhi-Bangalore flight costing about Rs 40,000 or a short Chennai-Coimbatore hop costing above Rs 10,000 is not only unreasonable but also extortionist. It can lead to the rendering of many routes uneconomical. The launch of low-cost airlines had created a revolution is air travel in the country, which is now in danger of unravelling.

It is argued that the proposed peak fares will apply only to last minute bookings. It is also cited that air fares are dynamic, and depend on many factors like changing demand and supply situations, nature of routes and fuel and operating costs. But the proposed fares cannot be justified even after taking all these elements into consideration. The attempt to defend high fares with the contention that in a milieu of deregulated fares, where competition in a free market would ensure fair and competitive prices is also faulty. There is no free and perfect market and cartelisation among companies makes competition non-existent. The airline industry is in bad financial straits, not just in India but the world over. The recent economic slowdown had badly affected them. Many of them are heavily indebted. But the remedy does not lie in fleecing passengers.

The government has rejected the basis of the airlines’ plans and has done well to warn them against resorting to exorbitant pricing. The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is seized of the matter but its powers are limited. It has been pointed out that the Competition Commission of India could have taken appropriate action as the issue is within its purview. There is also the continuing demand for an aviation regulatory authority, as in the telecom sector, which could protect the interests of air passengers. However, it is not that there are no legal ways to ensure that passengers, who are basically consumers who avail of a service, are not fleeced and exploited. They should be effectively used.