NEW DELHI: Taking serious note of the unusually high airfares amid IndiGo’s ongoing crisis, the Centre on Saturday invoked its regulatory powers to ensure reasonable pricing across the affected routes.“In order to protect passengers from any form of opportunistic pricing, the Ministry has invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares all affected routes,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said in a statement.The statement noted that an official directive has been issued to all airlines, instructing them to strictly follow the newly prescribed fare caps, which will remain in force until the situation fully stabilises. It added that the move aims to maintain pricing discipline, prevent passenger exploitation, and ensure that travellers with urgent needs are not subjected to undue hardship.“We will continue to monitor fare levels, and any deviation from the prescribed norms will invite immediate coercive action,” the ministry stated.Meanwhile, the IndiGo crisis stretched into its fifth straight day, with the airline expecting operations to return to normal by December 15. The turmoil at India’s largest private carrier has triggered a wider disruption across the country’s domestic aviation sector. On Friday—the worst day so far—IndiGo was compelled to cancel nearly 1,000 flights, sending airfares on other airlines soaring. In several instances, tickets on certain international routes even surpassed domestic fares.And there is still no respite. A one-way economy ticket for a single passenger on the Delhi–Mumbai route costs Rs 21,463 on Saturday and Rs 24,715 on Sunday. Fares are expected to ease next week, with prices likely to fall back to the Rs 6,000–10,000 range.A similar trip between Delhi and Bengaluru is priced at Rs 24,999 on Saturday, nearly doubling to Rs 48,463 for Sunday. By next week, fares are expected to stabilise, returning to the Rs 7,000–15,000 range.
