New Delhi: Ticket pricing by airlines is set to come under scrutiny, as the ministry of civil aviation is roping in anti-trust watchdog the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to keep in check indiscriminate increases in airfares in the domestic aviation industry.
The ministry, which would soon make operational an economic cell to monitor pricing mechanism of domestic airlines, is looking at forwarding reports to CCI to take corrective action in event of discrepancies in airfare pricing.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said, “The air fare monitoring cell is ready and would soon be commissioned under the aegis of the ministry. The economic cell would analyse data on tickets sold by airlines in different price buckets and make public the information to bring in transparency in airfare pricing. In case there are discrepancies, it would be referred to CCI.”
Singh clarified that the ministry would not attempt to regulate fares and would continue to allow airlines to determine fares based on market dynamics. However, if discrepancies surface in ticket prices from an analysis of data by the economic cell it would be reported to CCI for commensurate evaluation and action. “We will not regulate fares. But in event of problems in airfare pricing, we will report it to CCI”, Singh said.
Read in news in full 23/07/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard
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