Taking serious note of passenger concerns, the Ministry has issued an official directive to all airlines mandating strict compliance with newly prescribed fare caps
New Delhi: In the wake of the IndiGo crisis leading to flight shortage, the union government on Saturday imposed a cap on airfare on all routes with immediate effect. The fare has been capped in the range of Rs 7,500 to Rs 18,000 depending on the distance. It has also directed IndiGo to issue refunds to passengers for cancelled flights without delay. It is believed that the government may crack down on the IndiGo management for this fiasco. Meanwhile, flight operations disrupted due to the IndiGo crisis are slowly improving with the airline saying over 95% of network connectivity has already been re-established.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said it has taken "serious note" of concerns regarding "unusually high airfares" being charged by certain airlines amid the IndiGo crisis and has invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes. An official directive has been issued to all airlines mandating strict adherence to the fare caps that have now been prescribed. These caps will remain in force until the situation fully stabilises. It excludes User Development Fee (UDF), Passenger Service Fee (PSF), and taxes on air tickets.
“Taking note of unreasonable surge in fares due to disruptions in flight operations of Indigo, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has directed all airlines to maintain strict adherence to prescribed fare caps. The airlines shall extend maximum possible support to affected passengers, including alternate flight options where feasible,” said MoCA minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu.
He added the government has directed IndiGo to clear all pending passenger refunds without delay and mandated that the refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be fully completed by 8 PM on Sunday, December 7, 2025. “The Ministry has directed IndiGo to ensure that all baggage that was separated from passengers due to cancellations or delays is traced and delivered to the passenger’s residential or chosen address within the next 48 hours. Oversight has been strengthened to ensure zero inconvenience to passengers, with special focus on senior citizens, differently-abled passengers and those requiring urgent travel,” he further said.
Under the limits, for a flight flying up to 500 kilometres, the fares are capped at Rs 7,500 and for 500-1,000 kilometres, the ticket price cap is Rs 12,000. For flights operating 1,000-1,500 kilometres, the fares are limited at Rs 15,000 and for above 1,500 kilometres, the cap is Rs 18,000. These fare limits, excluding applicable charges, are not applicable for business class and UDAN flights. Airlines have been asked to avoid steep or unusual upward fare revisions on sectors affected by cancellations.
“The Ministry will continue to closely monitor fare levels through real-time data and active coordination with airlines and online travel platforms. Any deviation from the prescribed norms will attract immediate corrective action in the larger public interest,” ministry said.
Airlines like Air India said they are looking to add capacity to help passengers impacted by the IndiGo flight disruptions. Both Air India and Air India Express have put in place caps on economy class fares. It added that since December 4, economy class airfares on non-stop domestic flights have been proactively capped to prevent the usual demand-and-supply mechanism being applied by revenue management systems.
Meanwhile, IndiGo operations slowly started limping back after five days of paralysis. Normalcy was restored on some airports like Delhi, Jaipur, Goa. Delhi airport said even though some IndiGo flights are impacted, the operations were nearly back on track. At Delhi about 150 flights were cancelled.
There is a buzz that the security clearance of IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers may be withdrawn and he may be asked to go. The company may also be imposed a financial penalty and its number of routes may be cut down.
IndiGo said it is working determinedly to bring its operations back on track across the network. “Today the number of cancellations has dropped below 850 flights, much lower compared to yesterday. We are continuing to work towards reducing this number progressively over the next few days,” the airline said.
It added that it had cancelled a significant number of flights and operated little above 700 flights on Friday connecting 113 destinations. “The main objective was to reboot the network, systems, and rosters so that we could start afresh on Saturday with a higher number of flights, improved stability, and there are some early signs of improvement. Today, we are on our way to operate over 1500 flights by the end of day. With regards to destinations, over 95% of network connectivity has already been re-established as we are able to operate to 135 out of the existing138 destinations in operations,” IndiGo spokesperson said
