Air India Rolls Out New Fares After Government Imposes Airfare Caps- Are You Eligible For a Refund?

The Air India airline on Monday said that it has begun the rollout of new air fares. The announcement comes after the central government capped the airfares in the range of Rs 7,500 to Rs 18,000 depending on the distance amid soaring air ticket prices due to the IndiGo flight disruptions.Air India said that it has begun the rollout of new fares in compliance with the government's directions. Air India Express has completed the implementation, while Air India is still implementing the new fares, the airline posted on X. The airline has also announced that the customers who have already booked the Economy class flight tickets will be eligible for refunds.IndiGo Flight Cancellations Live Updates "In compliance with the Ministry of Civil Aviation's

(MoCA) directive issued on the evening of 6 December regarding the capping of Economy Class base fares, Air India Group commenced the rollout of the new prescribed fares across its reservation systems immediately. Air India Express completed the implementation across its systems, while Air India continues to progressively apply the fare caps, which will be fully effective in the next few hours," Air India posted on X.

"As the process involves third-party system dependencies, a phased rollout is required to ensure accuracy and stability without disrupting guest bookings," the airline said. "Guests who may have booked Air India flights in Economy Class during the transition period, at base fares above the prescribed caps, are entitled to refunds of the differential amounts," it added.

Centre Imposes Airfare Caps

The central government on Saturday capped the airfares in the range of Rs 7,500 to Rs 18,000, depending on the distance amid soaring air ticket prices due to the IndiGo flight disruptions. The fare limits, excluding applicable charges, are not applicable for business class and UDAN flights, the civil aviation ministry said in an order. The limits will be in place till the situation stabilises, the ministry said in a statement.

• Under the limits, for a flight flying up to 500 kilometres, the fares are capped at Rs 7,500 and for 500-1,000 kilometres, the ticket price cap is Rs 12,000.
• For flights operating 1,000-1,500 kilometres, the fares are limited at Rs 15,000 and for above, 1,500 kilometres, the cap is Rs 18,000.
• The cap means that for a Delhi-Mumbai flight, which is covered in a distance of over 1,300 kilometres, the fare for at least the economy class is capped at Rs 18,000.

However, the order did not provide clarity on whether the caps are applicable for economy class tickets or both economy and premium economy class tickets.(With PTI inputs)