Nagpur: Vishal Muttemwar, the General Secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, has expressed concern about the widespread surge in airfares offered by private airlines, questioning their pricing mechanisms. He has called for a justification for the sudden surge in airfares, alleging that airlines like Indigo are overcharging passengers under the guise of dynamic pricing.
Referring to a booking instance when he was searching for tickets from Nagpur to Mumbai, Muttemwar revealed his astonishment at the fares listed for an Indigo flight. Disturbed by the significant price increase, Muttemwar took to Twitter to voice his concern.
In his tweet, Muttemwar stated, “Airlines are exploiting people in the name of surge pricing. A Nagpur-Mumbai flight with a capacity of 180 passengers still has more than 80 unsold seats, but @IndiGo6E is selling one seat for more than Rs 20,000.”
Airlines are fleecing the people in the name of surge pricing. A Nagpur-Mumbai flight with a capacity of 180 passengers still has more than 80 unsold seats but @IndiGo6E is selling one seat for more than Rs 20000. Why is the civil aviation ministry turning a blind eye to this… pic.twitter.com/bN6FOFIzbS
— Vishal Muttemwar (@vishalmuttemwar) November 20, 2023
He also directed his concerns to the aviation ministry, adding, “Why is the civil aviation ministry turning a blind eye to this exploitation? @JM_Scindia kindly intervene and develop an airfares regulatory mechanism.”
Shortly after Muttemwar highlighted the issue on Twitter, an Indigo executive named Nisha responded, “We understand your concern; however, our fares are dynamic in nature and may increase or decrease at any given time as per the requirement and availability.”
Continuing to address the issue, Muttemwar replied to Indigo’s comment, stating, “I understand what dynamic fares are. It’s nothing new. Fewer available seats equal more demand and, therefore, higher prices. But what is new is that despite the availability of more than 40% seats, @IndiGo6E is demanding 5 times the normal fare on the sector.”
Nagpur Today’s View
At a time when the holiday season is at its peak, domestic airlines are unscrupulously attempting to reap windfall gains by capitalizing on the travel rush, without any regulatory monitoring of pricing caps. In such situations, travelers have no choice but to succumb to the exorbitant air ticket prices decided at the free will of airlines. The same issue arises with private bus fares during the festive season when a normal bus fare to travel to cities like Pune skyrockets to five times, causing a great deal of inconvenience to travelers. The aviation ministry must closely monitor the whimsical dynamic pricing system to prevent airlines from creating a significant financial burden for travelers.
