NEW DELHI: Competition Commission Chairperson Ravneet Kaur on Friday said that based on the initial assessment, the fair trade regulator has decided to look into IndiGo operations after recent flight disruptions, which severely impacted passengers across the country.
A series of flight disruptions by IndiGo, earlier in the month, created chaos at airports and also dented the image of the country’s aviation sector.
Kaur said based on specific information, the commission on its initial assessment decided to further look into the matter.
“We have information which has come to us, and based on that information, the matter was placed before the commission. The commission has taken a view that in the initial assessment, it looks like we can go into further detail,” Kaur said.
When asked if the commission would be looking into the aviation sector as such, she said, “No. We have started looking at the information, and this information is only with respect to IndiGo”.
On whether the commission will also look at the IndiGo issue under section 4 of the Competition Act, dealing with abuse of dominance as the airline has about 65 per cent market share, Kaur said, “No decision has been taken about that as yet”.
IndiGo cancelled hundreds of flights starting from December 2, causing hardships to thousands of passengers. The aviation safety regulator DGCA is probing the flight disruptions, and there are concerns in certain quarters about whether the airline’s dominant position could also have been a contributing factor.
The safety regulator had earlier summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras in the flight disruption case.
A series of flight disruptions by IndiGo, earlier in the month, created chaos at airports and also dented the image of the country’s aviation sector