Last month, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and GoAir threatened to drag oil marketing companies to the Competition Commission of India to protest the nearly 12 per cent hike in the price of aviation turbine fuel. But airlines themselves are no stranger to cartels. After all, they’ve been accused of collectively bumping up fares during crunch times.

The carriers have always claimed it’s the market forces at play. But this doesn’t explain the recent steep and uncannily similar increases in rescheduling and cancellation charges across airlines. IndiGo first hiked its charges effective April 1 to a flat ₹2,250 on domestic routes. Within days, SpiceJet raised its charges to match IndiGo’s. And last week, GoAirannounced an increase to ₹2,225. Over the past year, almost all airlines including Air India, have hiked their rescheduling and cancellation charges. These could exceed even the price of the ticket on some short-haul routes; so, if you change plans or cancel your ticket, you may get back nothing.

It’s no surprise then that air passenger associations are up in arms and plan to petition the CCI on this. The DGCA too has asked for an explanation from carriers. While it is nobody’s case that charges should be regulated, airlines would do well to be fair and reasonable, not earn the ire of the passenger and force the hand of the regulator. Interestingly, the draft aviation policy proposes giving airlines the freedom to charge any amount for additional services. The recent instance raises doubts as to whether airlines will exercise this freedom with responsibility.

Chief Research Analyst

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