New Delhi: A client has challenged the Competitors Fee of India’s (CCI) determination to dismiss allegations that IndiGo and Air India impose extreme and unfair air ticket cancellation fees, and has filed an enchantment earlier than the Nationwide Firm Legislation Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
The enchantment, filed by Kannadiputhur Sundararaman Suresh, was listed earlier than the Delhi bench of NCLAT on Monday however couldn’t be taken up as a result of paucity of time.
The plea challenges the truthful commerce regulator’s March 2026 order, which closed the criticism on the preliminary stage after discovering no prima facie violation of the Competitors Act.
Suresh had alleged earlier than the CCI that IndiGo and Air India, which collectively account for over 90% of India’s home aviation market, abused their market place by imposing extreme cancellation fees on passengers.
He argued that the similarity within the airways’ cancellation payment constructions mirrored anti-competitive conduct, amounting to cartelization below Part 3 and abuse of dominance below Part 4 of the Competitors Act.
Suresh stated he booked tickets price ₹12,488, cancelled them shortly after discovering he had chosen the improper journey dates, and obtained solely ₹3,054 as a refund after deductions in direction of cancellation fees and different charges.
Nevertheless, the CCI declined to order an in depth investigation. The regulator stated there was no proof of any settlement, association, understanding or concerted observe between IndiGo and Air India to find out or affect cancellation fees. It held that comparable pricing insurance policies alone have been inadequate to ascertain cartelization.
The Fee additionally noticed that the criticism failed to ascertain abuse of dominance by both airline individually. It famous {that a} excessive mixed market share of competing enterprises doesn’t robotically set up dominance or anti-competitive conduct below the Competitors Act. Accordingly, the CCI closed the matter below Part 26(2), holding that no prima facie case existed to direct an investigation by the Director Common.
Aggrieved by the choice, Suresh approached the NCLAT in search of to put aside the CCI’s order and direct the competitors watchdog to analyze the practices.
Emails in search of feedback from Air India, IndiGo and the Competitors Fee of India (CCI) remained unanswered on the time of publication.
If the NCLAT admits the enchantment, the case is prone to be intently watched by the aviation business and client teams, as airline cancellation fees have lengthy been a contentious subject for passengers.
In February 2026, the Directorate Common of Civil Aviation (DGCA) launched passenger-friendly refund and cancellation guidelines to enhance transparency and client safety. Efficient March 2026, the revised norms present a 48-hour window for passengers to cancel or modify bookings with out extra fees, topic to specified situations.
The foundations additionally require airways to course of refunds inside 14 working days and mandate larger transparency within the disclosure of cancellation fees.
DGCA information for 2025 reveals IndiGo holds almost 64% of the home aviation market, whereas the Air India Group accounts for about 27%.
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