CPI-M’s A A Rahim blames government privatisation and deregulation for the IndiGo crisis.
IndiGo and Air India now control over 90% of India’s aviation market, raising safety and fare concerns.
Rahim warns against diluting FDTL rules and calls for stronger regulation of private airlines.
CPI-M MP A A Rahim on Wednesday linked the ongoing IndiGo crisis to what he described as years of unchecked privatisation and weak regulation in India’s aviation sector, warning in the Rajya Sabha that the government must not relax safety or duty-time rules to shield a dominant private carrier.
According to PTI, Rahim raised the issue during Zero Hour and said the disruption was not an isolated IndiGo problem but the outcome of “neo-liberal economic policies, privatisation and deregulation” that had reshaped the market into a near-duopoly. He pointed to current market shares, noting that IndiGo operates 65.6 per cent of all flights while Air India handles 25.7 per cent. “More than 90 per cent of the Indian aviation sector is controlled by just two bosses, IndiGo and Tata,” he said.
PTI reported that Rahim rejected the government’s earlier claim that Air India’s privatisation would bring improvements. He argued that “in terms of safety, quality of service, and quality of aircraft, the situation is extremely poor”, adding that the government had encouraged a public perception that private operators could deliver results the public sector could not.
He also accused Air India of capitalising on the current situation. “What is Tata’s Air India doing during this so-called IndiGo crisis? It is profiting from human distress,” he said.
Rahim cited his own booking attempt as evidence of price manipulation and a lack of regulatory oversight. Despite a government order last Friday capping fares at Rs 18,000 for routes above 1,500 km, he said a Delhi–Thiruvananthapuram economy ticket for same-day travel on Wednesday morning was listed at Rs 64,783. “What control does the government have? The government has no control over private carriers,” he said, as reported by PTI.
He urged the Centre not to dilute Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms or grant any exemptions to IndiGo in the name of crisis management. Rahim said the aviation sector now requires stronger regulatory mechanisms, both to control airfares and to ensure passenger safety, given the concentration of power in the hands of just two operators.
(With inputs from PTI)
