Festive travel has once again exposed the sharp swings in India's airfares, with tickets on some major domestic routes costing substantially more than a year ago. Average one-way fares for travel between September 1 and November 10 were up 68% on Delhi-Hyderabad, 51% on Mumbai-Kolkata and 39% on Delhi-Goa, ET reported two weeks ago when the festive season was beginning.
A PIL filed last year against sharp fluctuations in airfares prompted the Supreme Court to question the Centre over safeguards against arbitrary fare increases. The government has now prepared rules that, according to a sources-based report in ET, will preserve market-based pricing but allow intervention during extraordinary situations. The dilemma is that passengers need protection from extreme price spikes, but India's aviation industry is not robust enough to make across-the-board fare controls an easy solution. The government appears to be choosing a middle path.
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