Six in 10 flyers say airlines not complying with fare caps: LocalCircles survey

Nearly six in 10 airline passengers who attempted to book domestic flights after December 6 said airlines were not complying with government-imposed airfare caps, according to a nationwide survey conducted by community social media platform LocalCircles.

The survey was done after the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on December 6 issued a directive imposing temporary fare caps on economy-class seats for domestic non-stop flights, following widespread complaints of inflated airfares between December 3 and 6. The caps limited base fares to ₹7,500 for journeys up to 500 km, ₹12,000 for 500–1,000 km, ₹15,000 for 1,000–1,500 km, and ₹18,000 for travel beyond 1,500 km, excluding taxes and airport charges.

Major carriers, including Air India and Air India Express, publicly affirmed compliance with the directive. Air India Express said capped fares had been fully implemented across its reservation systems, while Air India stated that implementation was being carried out progressively as updates were rolled out across distribution platforms, as per the report.

Airlines also announced additional measures such as waivers on change and cancellation fees and the addition of flights on congested routes. Air India further said it would refund fare differentials to passengers who booked tickets above the capped levels during the transition period.

However, LocalCircles said it continued to receive hundreds of complaints alleging violations by airlines, suggesting gaps in monitoring and enforcement. To assess passenger experience, the platform conducted a national survey that received 25,519 responses from flyers across 291 districts in India.

The survey asked respondents who had booked or were in the process of booking flight tickets whether airlines were complying with the fare caps. Of those surveyed, 21% said airlines were complying wherever they checked, while 59% reported “some or many non-compliances”. The remaining 20% did not give a clear response. Based on the results, LocalCircles said six in 10 flyers believe airfare caps are not being followed.

“In summary, it would be fair to state that fliers are not witnessing compliance with the fare capping orders, though temporary, of the government as 6 in 10 airline passengers who have attempted to book a flight since Dec 6th and surveyed say airfare caps are not being complied with,” the survey report noted.

As per the report, it seems profiteering during the peak travel season continues to govern the airlines in the country despite the government attempt to help consumers during this period when thousands have been penalised for no fault of theirs due to the failure of Indigo to inform in advance of cancellations / delay of their flights.

“Unless the government puts in place a system driven monitoring mechanism and imposes strong penalty, the non-compliance to fare capping will only increase again leading to passenger’s loss of trust both with the airlines and the government,” it said.

Notably, MoCA has warned airlines and booking platforms that non-compliance with fare caps would invite immediate corrective action, reiterating that the caps are temporary measures aimed at preventing opportunistic pricing while normal operations are restored.