DGCA asks airlines to explain high fares

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), attached to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, has sought an explanation from the airlines which have shown the highest fares in a particular sector on the recently uploaded data on rates.

"We will not regulate fares but there are cases of airlines charging very high fares in a particular route and such airlines will be asked to explain the reasons for that. They cannot charge such high fares without any valid reason," said a civil aviation ministry official, who did not want to be identified.

DGCA has also asked the airlines to make their uploaded rate plan more consumer-friendly by changing the format and also showing the full fares, including different fees and fuel surcharge.

The airlines uploaded the figures on their respective websites on Tuesday evening, a day before the Wednesday deadline set by the ministry.

After complaints from consumers that many private airlines were taking the advantage of high demand and capacity constraints in raising fares by over 300 per cent in November on routes like Delhi-Mumbai, the civil aviation ministry swung into action and asked the airlines to display the maximum fares they charge.

The airlines gave their first list based on the distance travelled, which was rejected by the ministry. The airlines were asked to show date- and route-wise fares on their websites every month.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the civil aviation advisory economic council, set up to monitor the fares charged by the airlines, has been postponed till next Monday.

The meeting was scheduled to be held tomorrow.