New Delhi : Civil aviation regulator, DGCA, on Friday told the Delhi High Court that airlines in the country are not charging fares that are unlawful, discriminatory or exorbitant and the ticket prices change according to market forces. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also told a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao that under the Aircraft Act it was not empowered to make “financial regulations” with regard to air fares.
The regulator took the stand in an affidavit filed in response to a PIL seeking capping of air fares charged by airlines in the country. The plea by consumer rights activist Bejon K Misra has alleged that the authorities, including DGCA, were acting as “silent spectators” to the “arbitrary” fixing of fares by the airlines. Denying the allegation, DGCA said in its affidavit that “change in air fares was dynamic”. “Fare increase with increase in demand for seats on any given flight and as a flight’s available seat inventory diminishes, lower bucket fares consequently may no longer be available.