Air travel across India has been in turmoil this week after IndiGo canceled thousands of flights. | Photo credit: PRIYANSHU SINGH
Accordingly, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Saturday invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares on all affected routes.
“An official directive has been issued to all airlines requiring strict compliance with the fare caps now prescribed,” the ministry said in a statement.
“These ceilings will remain in place until the situation has fully stabilized.”
According to MoCA, this move is intended to ensure that passengers are not charged opportunistic prices during the period of operational irregularities.
The aim, MoCA said, is to maintain price discipline in the market, prevent any exploitation of passengers in need and “ensure that citizens who urgently need to travel – including seniors, students and patients – are not exposed to financial hardship during this period.”
Additionally, MoCA said it will continue to closely monitor fare levels through real-time data and active coordination with airlines and online travel platforms.
“Any deviation from the prescribed standards will invite immediate corrective action in the wider public interest,” the ministry said.
The move comes a day after thousands of passengers were stranded across the country as IndiGo canceled more than 1,000 flights.
In particular, widespread disruptions were reported from airports in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune, with chaotic scenes at IndiGo check-in counters as passengers were left stranded, confused and angry.
To stabilize the domestic flight network, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted IndiGo a temporary waiver to accommodate serious schedule disruptions related to revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, which prescribe duty hours, mandatory rest periods and flight time restrictions for flight crew.
They entered into force on November 1, 2025.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said flight schedules were expected to start stabilising, with a full recovery within the next three days.
On IndiGo’s part, the airline’s CEO Pieter Elbers said the airline had been facing severe operational disruptions in recent days, with December 5 being the worst affected day as more than 1,000 flights were cancelled.
He said a restart of systems and schedules was being undertaken to allow for gradual improvements, adding that cancellations were expected to fall below 1,000 by Saturday, with normality expected between December 10 and 15.
Published on December 6, 2025
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