Agents can fleece you, check fare with airlines

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked the public to check the exact airline fare with the authority concerned before booking air tickets from an agent or any travel-based web portal. This advice comes days after investigations revealed that a Congress MP was fraudulently overcharged by a travel agent on several occasions. 

As per the law, an MP can book tickets for any Air India flight either through the secretariat, or by themselves and later get reimbursed. In one case, the secretariat found that the agent had charged Ashk Ali Tak much higher than the actual fare.

Though Tak paid Rs99,292 for a Delhi-Chennai flight, the agent paid only Rs39,292 to the airline. Similarly, for a Hyderabad-Bangalore flight, the agent charged Rs67,270 for a Rs17,270 ticket. The secretariat is believed to have lodged a formal complaint with the aviation secretary KN Srivastav.

The DGCA on Friday issued an advisory asking the general public to verify the fares with airlines.

A senior official from DGCA said, “ If the law-makers have not been spared, then one can only imagine what the common man must be going through. Nowadays, airline call centres and portals are just a call or click away. It is better to check beforehand than get fleeced.”

The DGCA said they are trying to identify the agents and travel-based web portals that have been overcharging passengers. “We will also cancel the agent’s licence if need be,” added the official.

@abidi_shahkar