Air Passengers Association Asks DGCA To Stop Discount Schemes

The Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) has urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) not to permit special discount schemes by domestic carriers.

"We strongly believe that the DGCA must put an end to this practice of offering ridiculously low fares which are non-existent and are not really available to the passenger," APAI President D Sidhakara Reddy said.

"We have received several complaints that the passengers do not get access to the airline's portal and if they are able to do so and look for the advertised (special) fare for a particular sector, it shows sold out, whereas most of the other types of fares are only available for bookings," he added.

SpiceJet had recently launched 'Diwali Dhamaka' sale, with one-way fares starting as low as Rs 899 (including taxes). The tickets could be booked between October 21 and 26 for travel between November 1 and December 15, 2014.

"SpiceJet has fundamentally changed the air travel paradigm in India this year, with offers that are frequent and often lower than train fares," Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Kapoor said while announcing the sale.

The association asked the DGCA whether the airlines provide information about the percentage of seats offered under special fare schemes as they are required to show the number of seats allocated under each type of fare.