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19-12-2025
Bureau Report
NEW DELHI: India’s competition regulator said on Thursday it was reviewing allegations of antitrust violations by budget airline IndiGo, opens new tab following recent flight disruptions that hit air travel nationwide.
The airline, which controls more than 60% of India’s domestic market, cancelled about 4,500 flights earlier this month due to poor pilot roster planning, stranding tens of thousands of passengers and triggering one of the country’s biggest aviation crises. Fares surged during the cancellations, prompting the government to impose temporary caps.
The Competition Commission of India said it had “taken cognizance of information filed against IndiGo in the context of the recent flight disruptions witnessed in the aviation sector, across various routes” and decided to proceed with an initial assessment. It did not disclose details of the allegations.
One complaint, seen by mdia, accuses IndiGo of cancelling flights and then offering seats at much higher prices, amounting to abuse of its dominant market position. The filing by lawyer Kartikeya Rawal alleges his ticket was cancelled and the replacement fare quoted was significantly higher.
IndiGo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The disruptions underscored the risks of a near-duopoly in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market, where IndiGo and Air India together hold a more than 90% share.
The CCI did not respond to a request for comment beyond its statement. In such cases, the regulator can order a detailed probe that may lead to penalties if wrongdoing is established.
IndiGo, known for its on-time performance, has apologized for the cancellations, calling them a “blemish” on its record.
Last week, a wave of flight cancellations by IndiGo, India’s largest airline, sparked a week of chaos and grounded tens of thousands of passengers, laying bare the risks of having a duopoly-like situation in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market.
For years, IndiGo with a 65% domestic market share has helped Indians realize their dreams of flying, an aspiration shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who once said those “in slippers should also be seen in aircraft”.
The airline became the poster child of the nation’s aviation boom in recent years, with its promise of low fares and on-time performance but last week changed it all: IndiGo cancelled at least 2,000 flights because of a shortage of pilots after it failed to plan adequately for new rules limiting how many hours they work. That upended vacation plans, weddings and flooded social media with photos and videos of luggage piling up at terminals, scenes never witnessed in India’s aviation history.
IndiGo’s woes come at a critical time for the airline and the industry. Rival Air India, which commands a 27% market share and was owned by the government until 2022, has for years faced complaints of an ageing fleet and poor service and is battling tighter scrutiny since a June crash killed 260 people.
IndiGo has said it hopes to return to normalcy in the coming days, but its troubles have drawn warnings from both politicians and aviation experts. The crisis has raised concerns about the risks of over reliance on a single carrier and whether the airline is really too big to fail.
The government stepped in swiftly, relaxing rules on pilot fatigue management to ease the disruptions. IndiGo has repeatedly apologized but has not disclosed financial losses from the crisis.
