With air travellers having to shell out as much for domestic flights as international travel they are wondering whether taking them for a ride is acquiring a completely different meaning.
With air travellers having to shell out as much for domestic flights as international travel they are wondering whether taking them for a ride is acquiring a completely different meaning.
Bhawana Shukla, a consultant and a frequent-flyer, thinks that charging people a ransom is unfair. “Low-cost airlines should stay true to their name under all circumstances. As a consumer I feel that they should regulate ticker prices,” says Shukla.
Vikas Jain, a businessman, has to travel all over the country and says he never has had to pay a ransom for air-tickets. “I always make sure my tickets are booked in advance. But, the authorities should look into the issue and see that people are not taken for a ride,” says Jain.
Richa Seth, a reputation manager, feels very strongly on the issue and thinks that the airlines need to cater to them common man too. “Why should the aam janta have to pay so much? Government should reduce the taxes if there is no other way to reduce ticket price,” suggests Seth.
D Sudhakara Reddy, national president of the Association of Air Passengers of India, however says that the airlines do not intentionally charge the passengers such rates. The costs are based on demand and supply. “The air fares are decided by a software called yield management. It takes into account the time, date, number of seat available before deciding the price of tickets.”
Expert view
It’s exploitation by airlines
Airlines are charging ten times higher price which is quite unfair. People who book tickets at the eleventh hour may be doing so because of some kind of emergency. Hence, this is sheer exploitation on the airline’s part. The government needs to intervene and look into the matter. Fixing a maximum price for a ticket might help. People have to raise their voice to get this done.
The consumers who have been charged a huge sum for their last-minute bookings should complain to the Aviation authority. If there is any delay in taking action then one can use RTI to know why the complaint is pending. Officials should send notices to the airline companies for this unfair practice.
MS Kamath, honourary secretary, Consumer Guidance Society of India
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