In response to the civil aviation crisis caused by large scale cancellation of IndiGo flights, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has imposed fare caps on all airlines to prevent opportunistic price hikes in view of cancelled and delayed flights. In a statement today, the ministry said that it has taken note of concerns regarding unusually high airfares being charged by certain airlines during the ongoing disruption.
“In order to protect passengers from any form of opportunistic pricing, the Ministry has invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes,” the ministry said.
Accordingly, the ministry has published the maximum fares that can be collected by the airlines for various distances. As per the list of caps announcing the ministry, the airlines can charge maximum ₹7,500 for distance upto 500 km. For 500-1000 km, the cap is ₹12,000, for 1000 to 1500 km, the maximum fare will be ₹15,000, and for distances above 1500 km, airlines can charge a maximum fare of ₹18,000.
Taking note of unreasonable surge in fares due to disruptions in flight operations of Indigo, Ministry of Civil Aviation has directed all airlines to maintain strict adherence to prescribed fare caps.
— Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu (@RamMNK) December 6, 2025
The airlines shall extend maximum possible support to affected passengers,… pic.twitter.com/Sm16ytYG49
These fares are base fares, which means User Development Fees (UDF), Passenger Service Charges (PSF) and taxes are not included in these numbers.
The ministry said that the fares limits are applicable for travel until the fares stabilise or till further review. These fare limits shall be applicable for all forms of bookings, regardless of whether the purchase is made directly through the airline’s official website or through various online platforms.
The ministry also added that the airlines shall maintain air ticket availability across all buckets for travel, and if need they will consider capacity enhancement on sectors seeing surge in demand.
The airlines have been asked to avoid steep or unusual upward fare revisions on sectors affected by cancellations of flights. The airlines shall extend maximum possible support to affected passengers, including alternate flight options where feasible, the ministry added.
The fare cap orders will come into force with immediate effect.
Earlier today the Civil Aviation Ministry said that the Ministry continues to closely monitor the recovery process and remains fully committed to restoring complete operational normalcy at the earliest.
It must be noted that the yesterday the ministry put the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) orders of the DGCA in abeyance, which was the primary cause of disruptions of IndiGo flights. These new fatigue-management rules for crew issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation extended weekly rest periods for pilots from 36 to 48 hours and imposed stricter limits on night operations.
These new rules impacted IndiGo operations badly, leading to cancellation of hundreds of flights this week. The airline has been accused of not taking enough measures to face the new guidelines which were issued months ago. Other airlines including Air India recruited enough pilots and other crew members to comply new rest rules.
But it is being alleged that IndiGo didn’t make new recruitments while continuing to expand its operations. In view of such allegations, the ministry has also ordered a high-level inquiry into its flight disruptions. The inquiry will examine what went wrong at Indigo, determine accountability wherever required for appropriate actions, and recommend measures to prevent similar disruptions in the future, ensuring that passengers do not face such hardships again.
