The directive came at a meeting DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan held with senior officials of private airlines, following complaints that exhorbitant spot-fares were being charged by the carriers in the wake of cancellation of Air India flights due to the six-day old pilots' strike.
The government today directed private airlines not to charge exorbitant fares from passengers hit by the Air India pilots' strike, with regulator DGCA warning of action in case it found a big fare hike by any carrier.
"Our prime concern is passengers' convenience. The Director General of Civil Aviation called a meeting to impress upon private airlines not to charge exorbitant fares and to cooperate with the government at this hour of crisis," civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi told reporters here.
"Government cannot and will not agree to any such situation (high fares being charged)," he said, adding that DGCA was "closely monitoring" the fares on a daily basis and action would be taken if found necessary.
Ravi said arrangements were being made to fly Air India passengers by private airlines in the domestic sector, while the operations of Air India (International), Air India Express and Alliance Air were running smoothly.
While Air India (Domestic), whose operations have been hit by the strike, was offering 9,500 seats a day, about 15,000-16,000 of its passengers were being flown out by the private airlines daily, a senior Ministry official said.
Asked why DGCA waited for six days to hold a meeting with private carriers on the issue, the Minister said, "Our attention was drawn about the problem by the media."
At the meeting, DGCA asked private carriers not to charge high spot ticket prices and ensure that these were not more than the maximum fares published on their websites.
The directive came at a meeting DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan held with senior officials of private airlines, following complaints that exhorbitant spot-fares were being charged by the carriers in the wake of cancellation of Air India flights due to the six-day old pilots' strike.
The spot fares or the last moment air ticket prices are those which are charged two hours before the scheduled depature of a flight.
Ticket prices on private carriers currently range between Rs9,000-18,000 on several sectors. Cost of a Mumbai- Delhi ticket, which is a high-density sector, ranges between Rs9,000-15,000. Similarly, a Mumbai-Bengaluru ticket would cost Rs13,000-15,000.
"I have told them that there should not be a jump in airfares, basically the spot fares should not be exhorbitant. These should not be more than the maximum fare published on their website," Bhushan told PTI soon after the meeting.
Maintaining that there were around 14-15 fare buckets, the DGCA chief said the spot fares should not be more than that being charged at the highest fare bucket.
With the private carriers currently operating with around 70-75% of seat load factor, the DGCA asked them to specify routes on which Air India has cancelled its flights and they would like to operate.
The national carrier, which has a market share of about 15%, was operating only between 10-15% of its flights since the past four days.
Bhushan said the sectors, left out by Air India due to the strike, can be taken care of by the private carriers to fly passengers.
"In the wake of ongoing pilots' strike, I have decided to allow them to fly on temporary basis on the routes on which Air India has cancelled their flights," Bhushan said, adding, "I have asked them to come by 5 pm tomorrow with the route plan."
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