Amid IndiGo crisis, will hotel fares be capped too? One-night stay soars above Rs 70000, BJP’s Praveen Khandelwal writes letter to…

Following IndiGo Airlines’ recent string of cancellations and delays, Praveen Khandelwal, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chandni Chowk, has expressed his concerns regarding passengers’ rights.

IndiGo Airlines’ massive cancellations and delays have caused a national crisis, impacting thousands of travellers and throwing travel plans into chaos across multiple cities. A number of companies taking advantage of this disruption have increased their prices due to the influx of passengers being left stranded.

What is causing hotel fares to skyrocket amid the IndiGo crisis?

According to airport data accessed on Saturday, several major hubs reported significant cancellations by IndiGo. Hyderabad Airport recorded 69 planned cancellations, including 26 arrivals and 43 departures. At Delhi Airport, operated by GMR, 86 IndiGo flights were cancelled for the day, comprising 37 departures and 49 arrivals. Ahmedabad Airport also reported disruptions, with 35 departures and 24 arrivals listed under planned cancellations. At Kolkata Airport, 73 arrivals and 102 departures were scheduled for the day, of which 21 arrivals and 20 departures were cancelled.

Following IndiGo Airlines’ recent string of cancellations and delays, Praveen Khandelwal, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chandni Chowk, has expressed his concerns regarding passengers’ rights, profiteering, as well as the airline’s practices, as reported by NavBharat Times Hindi.

Will the government implement a ‘Maximum Acceptable Fare’ for hotels and flights?

In a letter sent to the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Prahlad Joshi, Khandelwal asked for urgent steps to protect passengers. He proposed implementing a system akin to the Maximum Retail Price (MRP), called a “Maximum Acceptable Fare (MAF),” to cap charges for airline tickets and hotel accommodations during emergencies. He stressed that passengers should not be exploited for profit.  Khandelwal stressed that passengers should not be viewed as “ATM machines” by the airlines.

The BJP MP’s appeal comes at a time when the government has already declared an upper limit on certain airline fare ranges between Rs 7,500 and Rs 17,500. According to the NavBharat Times Hindi report, Khandelwal said there are limits for things such as soap, so why would there not be limits on outrageous prices for many essential services, like air transportation and emergency hotel rooms? He said this current type of pricing is a predatory type of “Dynamic Pricing” that is taking advantage of people’s vulnerability in order to create profits.

BJP MP from Chandni Chowk, Praveen Khandelwal, stated that during the IndiGo Crisis, many affected business owners called on him to speak up and voice their concerns. Many of the business traders contacted him, stating that there was a significant price increase in one-way tickets to cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, which typically range from Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000, had skyrocketed to Rs 70,000–Rs 80,000 during the crisis, 5 to 10 times higher than usual.

He stated that this type of pricing doesn’t reflect a normal price for a product or service in the market but is the result of opportunistic, algorithm-driven pricing exploiting passengers’ vulnerability.

Similarly, passengers at the Delhi airport are being charged hotel rates that can run as high as Rs 75,000 per night, with the rates for short stays being charged at hotel luxury prices.

Unfortunately, MP Khandelwal stated that when airlines such as IndiGo are experiencing severe flight disruptions, travellers should not be penalised; however, hotels should not use these emergencies as an opportunity to profit from them.

The rapid response from Union Home Minister Amit Shah was commended by Khandelwal, who also provided a number of key recommendations to the central government to resolve this issue. Khandelwal recommended that the central government should create a legal requirement for airlines and hotels to establish a “Maximum Acceptable Fare (MAF)” so that neither of these entities could charge more than a predetermined amount. Furthermore, Khandelwal recommended that baseline prices should be established for every route and zone based on historical data, and that a “surge cap” should also be created to limit fare increases during times of crisis.

Khandelwal voiced his support for mandatory price transparency from Airlines, booking platforms (e.g., online ticketing sites) and hotels, so that passengers are fully aware of what they are purchasing and for how much. He recommends that travellers be given discounts or just compensation when they have to book replacement tickets because of cancelled flights. He believes that enforced punitive action will need to be taken against those who profiteer during crises and prevent this behavior from occurring in the future, as mentioned by the NavBharat Times report. The MP reiterated that action must be taken without delay, as emergencies cannot be exploited. Passengers should not have to face the arbitrary pricing based on algorithms or be exposed to monopolies or price gouging.