SC to hear plea against unpredictable airfares, ancillary charges

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a plea seeking regulatory guidelines to control unpredictable airfares and ancillary charges imposed by private airlines. The Centre has fast-tracked rules under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, amid concerns over exorbitant fares and passenger protection

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking regulatory guidelines to control the “unpredictable fluctuations” in airfare and ancillary charges imposed by private airlines in India.

As per the apex court’s cause list of September 7, the matter would be heard by a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. On August 17, the Centre had told the top court that it has fast-tracked the framing of rules under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, which is aimed at modernising India’s aviation sector, and the same would be finalised within three weeks.

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The government had placed the draft rules before the bench in a sealed cover and said some final discussions were going on. The apex court had noted that Additional Solicitor General Anil Kaushik, appearing for the Centre, sought three-week time to get the draft rules finalised and place it before the court.

The top court is hearing a plea filed by social activist S Laxminarayanan, who has sought a robust and independent regulator that ensures transparency and passenger protection across the civil aviation sector and regulatory guidelines to control the “unpredictable fluctuations” in airfare and ancillary charges imposed by private airlines in India.

Senior advocate Ravindra Srivastava, appearing for the petitioner, had argued before the bench that till the time the new rules come into force, the old rules are operating. Questioning the “lack of willingness” on the part of authorities and the effectiveness of the existing mechanism, he had argued that airlines were charging exorbitant fares.

On July 13, the top court had asked the Centre to place the rules framed under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024, before it. It had said the rules be placed before it in a sealed cover, irrespective of whether those have been placed before Parliament.

While hearing the plea on May 15, the apex court said there should be some rationalisation of airfares and asked the Centre to provide relief to flyers.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was then appearing in the matter for the Centre, had told the bench that the new enactment of 2024 had come into effect in January 2025 and the corresponding rules were in the process of being prepared.

On November 17 last year, the top court sought responses from the Centre and others on Laxminarayanan’s plea. While hearing the matter in January, the top court said it would interfere with the “unpredictable fluctuations” in airfares and flagged the exorbitant rise during festivals.

It had termed the exorbitant rise in airfares by the airlines “exploitation” and asked the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to file their replies on the plea.

The plea claims that all private airlines have, without any credible justification, reduced the free check-in baggage allowance for economy-class passengers from 25 kg to 15 kg, “thereby converting what was earlier part of the ticketed service into a new revenue stream”.

It says the “new policy of permitting only a single piece for check-in and the absence of any rebate, compensation or benefit to passengers who do not avail themselves of check-in baggage demonstrates the arbitrary and discriminatory nature of the measure”. The plea claims that currently, no authority has the power to review or cap airfares or ancillary fees, allowing airlines to exploit consumers through hidden charges and unpredictable pricing.