HC seeks govt’s reply on capping airfares

Centre asked for response to petition

NEW DELHI, 26/02/2009: The scene at the new domestic departure terminal 1D at Indira Gandhi International Airport, which was inuagurated, in New Delhi on February 26, 2009. Photo: S. Subramanium

The Delhi High Court has asked the Central government to respond to a petition seeking capping of airfares.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal asked the Centre to file its reply and posted the matter for September 15.

The petitioner informed the Bench that the earlier direction by the court to decide the issue was not complied with.

Meanwhile, the Centre told the court that airfare were beyond the control of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The petitioner said an RTI response from the Civil Aviation Ministry had stated that airfares were not controlled by the government.

Citing the Jat agitation in Haryana last year, when road and rail traffic was blocked, the plea said the airlines wouldn’t have escalated fares in such an emergency situation had there been a cap on airfares.

“Private airlines have fleeced people even in emergency situations and the government has stood as mute spectator,” the plea said, adding there was an “urgent need to regulate the upper limit of airfares so that private airlines cannot fleece their customers as per their own wish”.

Capping of airfares in the backdrop of passengers’ complains of arbitrary tariff hikes was recently ruled out by the government, which had said that competition among airlines would take care of the problem.