New Delhi: When airlines go to "extremes" while deciding fares, they are engaging in gambling, said Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma. He went on to add that informal discussions have begun within the ministry on how to prevent this 'gambling'. So is the ministry finally going to regulate airfares?
As of now, all airlines are required to stay within pre-decided fare buckets for each sector. Aviation regulator DGCA has recently set up a fare monitoring cell which will randomly monitor airfares to see if the prescribed fare buckets are being violated. As such, there is no fare regulation by either the ministry or the DGCA as of now. But this could change soon.
In an interaction with the media, Sharma said "I feel there should be some limit....but then there are international guidelines on fares which we need to study. Airlines should not swing to extremes, this is gambling. We have started an internal discussion on how to regulate prices."
He said the ministry has noted Rs 599 kind of fares at one end and Rs 35,000-40,000 at the other extreme. Already, as per an internal note circulated within the ministry earlier, one suggestion was to cap the maximum fare on any sector to Rs 20,000 and to devise an airline-wise mechanism for calculating minimum fare on each sector.
05/03/15 First Post
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
As of now, all airlines are required to stay within pre-decided fare buckets for each sector. Aviation regulator DGCA has recently set up a fare monitoring cell which will randomly monitor airfares to see if the prescribed fare buckets are being violated. As such, there is no fare regulation by either the ministry or the DGCA as of now. But this could change soon.
In an interaction with the media, Sharma said "I feel there should be some limit....but then there are international guidelines on fares which we need to study. Airlines should not swing to extremes, this is gambling. We have started an internal discussion on how to regulate prices."
He said the ministry has noted Rs 599 kind of fares at one end and Rs 35,000-40,000 at the other extreme. Already, as per an internal note circulated within the ministry earlier, one suggestion was to cap the maximum fare on any sector to Rs 20,000 and to devise an airline-wise mechanism for calculating minimum fare on each sector.
05/03/15 First Post
