Domestic airlines will provide the airline regulator with data on the number of seats they sell and the revenue they earn on 20 of their busiest routes, on a monthly basis.
The information will allow the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to take a view on whether the domestic airlines are charging higher fares. “The regulator is not asking for what is the highest fare that an airline is charging but only how many seats are sold at the highest fare during the month,” a senior DGCA official said when asked if this was another attempt at regulating the fares charged by domestic airlines.
Airfares on domestic routes vary depending on various factors, including how early a passenger books the ticket, what the demand on a particular flight is and also on whether a passenger is travelling during peak- or off-season. These lead to a huge variation in what two passengers flying on the same route on the same flight pay. There have been passenger protests over variation in fares as those booking at the last minute tend to pay higher.
The issue was also raised by Members of Parliament in the current session. Bengaluru-Mumbai, Delhi-Hyderabad, Delhi-Chennai, Bengaluru-Delhi, Kolkata-Chennai, Bengaluru-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Chennai, Chennai-Port Blair, Kolkata-Delhi, Delhi-Srinagar are among the routes on which the airlines will provide data to the DGCA.