Jamshedpur: PSZMS President writes to Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia urging cap on exorbitant air fares

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur:  Former Vice President of Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and President of Purvi Singhbhum Zila Marwari Sammelan (PSZMS), Mukesh Mittal has written a letter to the Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia, drawing his attention to the arbitrary and exorbitant air fares being charged by domestic airlines thereby burning holes in the pockets of the middleclass people who have to resort to air travel for sending their children to other cities for higher education or to seek advanced treatment in metropolitan hospitals.

Mittal noted in his letter to Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, “I am bringing to your kind notice that, of late, domestic air fares have been raised exorbitantly that is unaffordable by common citizens, especially students, patients and the middle class. After GO Airways went out of business, other operators have been capitalizing on it. Also, through technological advancement and sharing of data (people searching on Google and different apps), operators come to know the demand of flights on a particular route and they increase the fares exorbitantly and immediately. There is every reason to believe that airlines have formed a cartel and are unethically profiteering at the cost of common citizens.”

The PSZMS President noted that it had become almost impossible for parents to send their children to other cities for higher education due to prohibitive cost of travel by air or for patients going to metropolises for better treatment. “It is a big blow to the budget of common citizens. The airlines operators are into an organised attempt to empty their pockets,” Mittal wrote.

The former SCCI Vice President’s letter to the Civil Aviation Minister urged that a cap on maximum variation between the base fare and peak fare should be implemented or any other suitable method be used so as to provide relief to the common citizens, especially students and patients. “The airlines regulator, DGCA, should also thoroughly investigate the matter and bring justice for one and all,” Mittal suggested.