Rs 7,500 for routes up to 500 km Centre introduces airfare caps

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Dec 6: The Central Government has introduced new fare caps for airlines in response to wide-spread flight cancellations by IndiGo.
Under the revised guidelines, airlines are now restricted from charging more than Rs 7,500 for routes up to 500 km, and Rs 18,000 for routes exceeding 1,500 km.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation issued an order today, stating that the caps were implemented "in the public interest" to curb the “unreasonable surge” in airfares resulting from operational disruptions at IndiGo.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol shared the order detailing the fare caps in a post on X, saying that the Government is committed to protecting passengers and ensuring stable, affordable air travel.
The order issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation sets the following fare caps: Rs 7,500 for routes up to 500 km, Rs 12,000 for routes between 500 and 1,000 km, Rs 15,000 for routes between 1,000 and 1,500 km, and Rs 18,000 for routes exceeding 1,500 km.
However, airlines continue to charge high airfares when checked on the popular ticketing site Make My Trip at around 5.50 pm.
For instance, the cheapest flight fare for the Imphal-Guwahati route on December 8 was listed at Rs 10,137 around 5.51 pm, despite the aerial distance between Imphal and Guwahati being approximately 270-290 km.
According to the revised order, the maximum fare for routes up to 500 km should be Rs 7,500.
The aerial distance from Imphal to Delhi is approximately 1,713-1,719 km, meaning the maximum fare for this route should be Rs 18,000, according to the revised fare caps.
However, the cheapest fare for the Imphal-Delhi flight on December 8 was listed at Rs 10,403 but the prices vary as high as Rs 32,838.
Meanwhile, the Imphal-Kolkata route covers around 615 km, so the maximum fare for this route should be Rs 12,000. For December 8, the fare for this route was listed below the revised cap with Rs 11,215 being the highest.
Even as the Meitei community has been relying heavily on air travel to other States since May 3, 2023 due to inaccessibility of the highways, there has been no intervention from the Government to address the issue.
Recently, Air India Express announced a fare cap of Rs 6,000 for the Imphal-Guwahati route. However, this fare cap has not yet been implemented on the ground.
Expensive or not, for the Meitei community, air travel remains the only viable option for urgent travel or medical needs, as travelling along the highways remains unsafe.
Notably, efforts by the Government of India to reopen the highways and facilitate free movement have been unsuccessful, largely due to opposition from a particular community.
Meanwhile, the fare limits set by the Ministry of Civil Aviation are exclusive of UDF, PSF and taxes, and do not apply to Business Class or RCS-UDAN flights, it said.
The Ministry stated that the fare limits will remain in effect until fares stabilize or until further review.
It also said that the fare caps will apply to all forms of booking, whether made directly through the airline's official website or via online travel agent platforms.
Additionally, airlines have been instructed to ensure ticket availability across all buckets for travel and to provide maximum support to affected passengers, including offering alternative flight options where feasible.