Cutting across party lines, Rajya Sabha MPs requested for government intervention to check exorbitant fares being charged by airlines in the country. They also wanted a proper regulatory mechanism to ensure ticket prices cannot be hiked beyond a certain limit. Civil Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said a regulatory mechanism for ticket pricing would adversely impact the aviation industry, pointing out that a cap on air fares did not exist anywhere around the globe. Protests from the opposition benches, with even deputy chairman P J Kurien is pointing to the sharp hike in fares during festival seasons, Minister later said, "I will try to see if we can find some way out." Congress, Left, SP and JD (U) members staged a walkout in protest.
Raja Sabha MP Naresh Agrawal of SP said, that the entire idea behind allowing private airlines was that competition would help customers with lower prices. But this had not happened and different airlines are charging varying high fares for the same destination.
D Raja of CPI also demanded that the government should determine airfares, even as he blamed "successive governments" for "destroying" national carrier Air India to help private airlines. "If you want to maintain price stability and provide proper services, then the answer is Air India," he said.
Vijay Goel (BJP), K N Balagopal (CPM), Kanimozhi (DMK), A V Singh Deo (BJD), Jogen Choudhury (Trinamool), Congress members Ghulam Nabi Azad, Rajeev Shukla, M S Gill and Viplove Thakur also demanded that the government should control runaway increase in air fares by ensuring a proper price band.
"Air fares are not fixed by the government as they are determined by the interplay of market forces. Under the rules, airlines are free to fix reasonable tariff regard to all relevant factors, including the cost of operation, characteristic of service, reasonable profit and the generally prevailing tariff," Civil Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said.
There are people who get air tickets at high prices, there are also those who get them at lower prices if they book well in advance. "It is a very complicated situation which does not have simplistic answers. A regulatory mechanism (on air ticket pricing) will mean putting caps and floors, it will have its impact on the aviation industry, Is it desirable?" asked the minister.
By Premji
