Passengers will get relief from expensive flight tickets: New rules to control arbitrary fares will be finalized, government will release in two weeks

Passengers may soon get relief from expensive flight tickets. The Central Government told the Supreme Court on Friday, October 16 that it has finalized new rules to control arbitrary fares of airlines. The government will issue these new rules in two weeks.

The Supreme Court has directed the government to present the issued rules before the court in the next hearing to be held on November 16. The direct impact of this decision was also visible on the stock market. Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the company that runs Indigo airline, fell by 2% today.

What order did the court give to the government in the hearing on PIL?

A public interest litigation (PIL) was being heard in the Supreme Court regarding arbitrary fares charged by private airlines. In the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta explained the status of the new rules to the bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Aparesh Singh.

The Solicitor General told the bench that the rules for controlling air fares have been finalized and have also received government approval. These rules will be published within the next two weeks.

After this, the court listed the case for hearing on November 16 and ordered the government to put forward the published rules.

In August, the Supreme Court had warned to ground the airlines.

The Supreme Court has already taken action regarding air fare rules. Earlier, in the hearing held in the month of August, the court had given clear instructions to the Central Government that the airlines not following the rules should be grounded (stopped from flying).

At that time, the Civil Aviation Ministry had told the court that till the rules are finalized, it is issuing ‘Office Memorandum’ to the airlines regarding fares, but the airlines are not following these instructions. Apart from this, the Supreme Court had also reviewed the draft rules submitted by the government.

Indigo shares fell 2% to ₹4,674

There was pressure on airline shares in the market due to the news of government control and strictness on air fares. On Friday, shares of IndiGo’s parent company InterGlobe Aviation fell 2.17% and closed at Rs 4,674.

Investors fear that the government’s implementation of fixed rules or upper limits on fares may impact airlines’ profit margins and yield, or earnings per passenger.

Passengers hope to get relief from arbitrary fares

The new rules to be published in the next two weeks will make it clear how much airlines will be able to increase fares during festivals, peak seasons or emergencies.

The published rules will be reviewed in the Supreme Court on November 16, after which crores of air travelers in the country are expected to get permanent relief from arbitrary fares.

Read this news also…

Air India’s international flights cost up to Rs 17 thousand: Higher charges on domestic flights too, due to expensive fuel; Indigo has already increased the fare

Traveling on Air India flights will become expensive from tomorrow. After Indigo, the airline has also announced to impose extra fuel charge up to Rs 1200 in domestic flights and up to Rs 17,800 in international flights.

The new fuel charges will also be applicable on Air India Express, as both are Tata Group airlines. The new prices will be applicable from 12:01 am on October 9. The airline has taken this decision due to the cost of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) i.e. jet fuel. Read the full news…