Image used to represent | Photo credit: Reuters
The Union government on Monday (February 23, 2026) submitted to the Supreme Court that the Ministry of Civil Aviation is actively considering the issues raised in a public interest petition seeking regulatory guidelines to check wild flight fares and ancillary charges levied by private airlines.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta gave the Center four weeks to complete the hearing and inform the court of the outcome.
“It is a very serious concern,” the court noted, scheduling the next hearing on March 23.
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Earlier, the court had stepped in to probe the reasons behind the “unpredictable fluctuations” in ticket prices and flagged exorbitant increases during festival days.
Terming the steep hike in fares as “exploitative”, the court asked the Center and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to file their responses to a petition filed by social activist S. Laxminarayanan, who sought to set up a robust and independent regulator to ensure transparency and protection of passengers across the civil aviation sector.
It has issued notices to the Centre, DGCA and Airports Regulatory Authority of India seeking their responses to the objection.
The plea also pointed to a reduction in the free checked baggage allowance for economy class passengers from 25kg to 15kg, “turning what was previously part of the air tickets carried into a new revenue stream”.
It also said the state’s failure to regulate tariff algorithms, cancellation policies, service continuity and complaint mechanisms constituted a dereliction of its constitutional duty and called for urgent judicial intervention.
Published – 24 Feb 2026 01:40 IST
