'May Make Fares Affordable': DGCA Issues New Guidelines For Air Ticket Pricing
‘may make fares affordable’: dgca issues new guidelines for air ticket pricing
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has announced new regulations that can make ticket prices more affordable for flyers. It outlined services, which, if ‘unbundled’, can make ticket prices cheaper and more affordable.
“The airfares so established by the airlines also include charges for some of the services rendered by them. On the basis of various feedback received, it is felt that many times these services provided by the airlines may not be required by the passengers while travelling,” the DGCA said in a circular on April 23, 2024.
The DGCA announced that it looks to separate the fee for other services on a flight from the ticket price, which may make the latter more affordable.
“Considering the fact that unbundling of services and charges thereto has the potential to make basic fare more affordable and provides consumers an option of paying for the services which he/she wishes to avail. It has been decided by the Government to allow following services to be unbundled and charged separately on opt-in basis” DGCA added.
As per the circular, the DGCA listed seven services which if unbundled from the ticket can make the cost of tickets cheaper and more affordable. These are:
- Preferential seating
- Meal/snack/drink charges (except drinking water)
- Charges for using airline lounges
- Check-in baggage charges
- Sports equipment charges
- Musical instrument carriage
- Fee for special declaration of valuable baggage (allow for higher unit oncarrier liability)
The unbundled services, based on the regulations, will be provided on an ‘opt-in basis’ and not on an ‘opt-out’ basis, the DGCA stated.
“Customers should have clear information of these services and their charges so that he/she opts-in only for the services they would like to avail thereby reducing potential confusion and chances of selecting the services he/she would not like to avail/purchase at the time of booking,” the DGCA said in its guiding principles.
The DGCA urged airlines to keep charges fixed and ensure transparency for passengers.
“Charges for the unbundled services shall be a fixed amount and shall not vary with the base fare for a particular sector/flight,” the circular said.
Seating Guidelines For Children Up To 12 Years Of Age
The DGCA also issued a regulation regarding the seating of young children on planes. As per the regulation, airlines now have to ensure that young children are seated with at least one of their parents or guardians on a flight without being required to pay extra for seat selection. The directive was issued after numerous complaints lodged by passengers over being seated separately, especially from their little children.
“Airlines shall ensure that children up to the age of 12 years are allocated seats with at least one of their parents/guardians, who are travelling on the same PNR and a record of the same shall be maintained,” the amended rule by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.