Airfare rules finalised, to be published in two weeks, Centre tells Supreme Court

What the Centre told the court

On Friday, October 16, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that rules on airfares and additional airline charges have been finalised and given administrative approval, and that they will be published within two weeks, according to Business Today and an IANS report carried by The Morung Express. The bench was made up of Justices Vikram Nath, R. Mahadevan and Aparesh Kumar Singh. It directed that the published rules be placed before it at the next hearing, on November 16.

The Centre had earlier said the rules were being framed under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, to address concerns about airline pricing and additional charges. IANS reports that the Centre also assured the court that airfares, surge pricing and excess baggage charges were being examined at the highest level.

What the case is about

The matter is a public interest petition filed by a social activist. As described in the IANS report, it challenges airline pricing that it calls opaque, exploitative and algorithm-driven. It argues that sudden fare increases during emergencies, festivals and peak periods hurt people travelling for medical, education or work reasons, and it challenges a cut in free check-in baggage from 25 kg to 15 kg. It asks the court to set up a comprehensive regulatory framework or an independent aviation tariff regulator to oversee fares, monitor compliance and handle passenger grievances.

DNA India lists further requests in the petition: transparency in airline pricing, protection from excessive charges and uniform cancellation and refund policies.

At an earlier hearing, Justice Nath's bench said private airlines' fares needed some rationalization and urged the Centre to give passengers relief. It noted that on the same day and route, one airline charged Rs 8,000 and another Rs 18,000 in economy class, per the IANS report. Business Today reports that at a hearing on August 18 a bench of Justices Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed the Centre to ground airlines that do not comply with its orders on fares, that the government then submitted a draft of the proposed rules in a sealed cover, and that the matter was listed for September 7.

DNA India reports that the festive season has seen sharp fare increases on several domestic routes, that IndiGo changed its domestic fuel charges by Rs 375 to Rs 1,300 from October 6, and that Air India, Air India Express and Akasa Air applied or raised surcharges from October 9. It adds that aviation turbine fuel makes up roughly 40% of airlines' operating expenses.

What is not yet known

None of the reports gives the contents of the rules. DNA India notes it is unclear whether they will cap fares or require fare disclosure, and the IANS report says details such as fare caps, surge-pricing limits or baggage terms are not yet known. No effective date for the rules has been reported; the only dates given are publication within two weeks of the October 16 hearing and the November 16 court date.

What happens next

The Centre has said it will publish the rules by about the end of October. The court will take up the matter again on November 16, when the published rules are to be placed before it. Business Today reports that the petitioner told the court that fares keep rising sharply because the sector is unregulated.