New Delhi: The festive season brings hope for common people to spend time with loved ones and return home. But for many passengers this journey becomes a cause of worry due to the rising prices of air tickets. The Supreme Court on Monday took a tough stance on the sudden increase in air fares during holidays and festivals.
While hearing the case, the bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta raised questions on the status of compliance and regulation of the arrangements made in the interest of passengers.
The court made a strict comment and said that if the airlines do not follow the rules, then steps like stopping their flights can be taken.
Government said – the process of preparing rules is in the final stages
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Anil Kaushik told the court that the process of framing rules related to airfares and fees is in the final stages.
He asked for about three weeks' time for this. The government said that after the completion of the process, the finalized rules will be placed before the Supreme Court.
The court accepted the demand for giving three weeks' time. Now the next hearing of the case will be on September 7.
The issue of fare capping arose due to the problems of passengers.
During the hearing, the statement given by the Union Civil Aviation Minister in the Parliament on behalf of the petitioner was also mentioned, in which it was said that the government cannot impose capping on fares.
The petitioner expressed the need for regulatory intervention in the fare fixing system of airlines and demanded relief to passengers from arbitrary fares.
The court has already expressed its displeasure over the fares of airlines.
This is not the first time that the Supreme Court has expressed concern about airfares. In the last hearing, the court had termed the arbitrariness of airlines companies in fixing fares as exploitation of passengers.
The matter is related to social worker S. Lakshminarayanan's petition. The petition has accused private airlines of arbitrarily determining air fares and charging various additional charges from passengers.
Not only ticket fare, additional charges are also a matter of concern
It has been said in the petition that apart from the base fare, passengers also have to pay many additional charges. The petitioner has demanded setting up of a regulatory body to make clear rules regarding these charges and monitor their compliance.
Now everyone's eyes are on the next hearing to be held on September 7. After the new rules being prepared by the government come forward, it may become clear how much relief the passengers traveling by air during festivals and holidays will get from the rising fares.
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