Exorbitant airfare: DGCA advisory for passengers

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) India on Tuesday issued an advisory for air travelers urging them to check the airfare preferably on the airline’s website prior to booking the tickets.

It is in the wake of complaints from various corners about the exorbitant fares on the India-UK route that DGCA issued the advisory.

DGCA advisory to air travelers read:

“Passengers travelling to international destinations are requested to check the fare preferably from the website of the concerned airline as the metasearch engines at times do not reflect the actual point to point fare and do make combinations of multiple airlines and end up with an exaggerated figure,” Said DGCA in its advisory.

The Union civil aviation ministry had informed earlier that there were no proven basis for the allegation that the airline companies had been charging exorbitant fares on India-U.K routes. The ministry issued a statement regarding this on twitter after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked the airlines to submit the details about their fares.

It was Sanjeev Gupta, secretary at the ministry of home affairs who raised the issue first of the unfair charges on twitter.

“Fare of ?3.95 lakh one way Delhi to London on Aug 26. No, it’s not 1st class. It’s economy on @British_Airways @airindiain @airvistara etc. also 1.2 to 2.3 lakh. College admission time! See minimum fare on @GoogleTravel in August. Have alerted Secretary @MoCA_GoI @JM_Scindia,” tweeted Gupta, sharing screenshots of the airfares.

After that DGCA had asked the airlines to submit the details.