The Centre on Saturday cracked the whip on IndiGo and other airlines charging exorbitant fares amid mass cancellations, capping domestic airfares at Rs 18,000 (UDF, passenger security fees and taxes extra).
In a late evening meeting, civil aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha gave IndiGo two days- instead of the 21 sought by the airline- to fully restore operations.
Sinha summoned the airline brass led by CEO Pieter Elbers to Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan after the ministry invoked the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, arming itself with powers instead of leaving it to aviation regulator DGCA.
The carrier, controlling 60% of the domestic traffic, has been ordered to ensure refunds for cancelled tickets by 8 p.m. on December 7, and return bags within two days. The airline has been barred from charging any rescheduling fee, which it was levying despite failing for over a month to adhere to new flying time norms for pilots and crew.
The ministry has also instructed IndiGo to trace and deliver all baggage separated from passengers due to disruptions within 48 hours. With this push, IndiGo has successfully delivered 3,000 pieces of baggage to passengers across India as of yesterday.
Unlike other airlines which were updating DGCA periodically about flight duty time limitations (FDTL), IndiGo not only failed to implement it but even refused to disclose details to the regulator. Officials pointed out that the airline did not update authorities and travellers adequately during the chaos caused by its failure to adhere to FTDL despite being given two years to accept the globally accepted protocol.
Aviation ministry said it has “taken a serious note of unusually high airfares being charged by certain airlines during the ongoing disruption” and “invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes” to “protect passengers from any form of opportunistic pricing.”
Airport directors from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Goa have confirmed normal conditions across terminals on Sunday. Passenger movement remains smooth with no crowding at check-in, security, or boarding points, officials said.
IndiGo refunds tickets worth Rs 610 cr
IndiGo is on track to operate over 1,650 flights, up from 1,500 Saturday, the airline said in a status update Sunday evening. It said 137 out of 138 destinations are in operation with on-time performance of 75 per cent, up from 30 per cent Saturday.
The airline iterated it will give full waiver on cancellations and reschedule requests for bookings till December 15.
The process of refunds and sorting luggage is going on fast, it said.
“We are working round the clock to resume normal service. Please bear with us,” IndiGo said in its latest status update.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has taken rapid and decisive steps to address the disruption caused by IndiGo’s operational crisis and to ensure that passengers do not face continued inconvenience, officials said.