The alleged cartelisation was aimed at levying a uniform fuel surcharge on air cargo, the source added.
The complaint was lodged by Mumbai-based Express Industry Council of India, which represented major express courier and cargo companies such as DTDC, Aramex India, Blue Dart, DHL Express, GATI and First Flight, the source said.
“We have received a complaint recently against five airline operators, alleging there is a concerted effort by them to levy a uniform rate of fuel surcharge on air cargo, often on the same day.
"This is affecting the services of cargo companies and their consumers,” the source, privy to the developments, said.
When contacted, GoAir said so far it hadn’t received any communication from CCI and, therefore, wouldn’t be able to comment. While Jet Airways declined to comment, email queries to SpiceJet and IndiGo didn’t elicit any response. Air India officials were unavailable for comment.
According to official data, last financial year, air cargo traffic in India stood at 2.19 million tonnes (mt).
Of this, about 33 per cent was international cargo with foreign carriers with a market share of about 80 per cent.
The remaining international cargo was accounted for by the five Indian carriers.
Domestic cargo traffic stood at 0.78 mt.
According to the source, the complaint said while airline companies bought fuel from oil marketing companies at different prices, when it came to levying fuel
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