The Competition Commission on Wednesday ordered a detailed probe against IndiGo for unfair business practices, nearly two months after the country’s largest airline cancelled thousands of flights due to operational issues, causing hardships to passengers.
After taking into consideration data related to airlines and those provided by the aviation regulator DGCA, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has prima facie concluded that IndiGo has abused its dominant position.
In a 16-page order, CCI said that by cancelling thousands of flights, which constituted a significant portion of the scheduled capacity, IndiGo effectively withheld its services from the market, creating an artificial scarcity, limiting consumer access to air travel during peak demand.
“Such conduct by a dominant enterprise may be viewed as restricting the provision of services under Section 4 (2) (b)(i) of the Act,” the regulator said.
Section 4 of the Competition Act pertains to abuse of dominant position.
Accordingly, the Commission directed the director general to investigate the matter and submit an investigation report within a period of 90 days.
Long-haul flights
IndiGo and Air India have stopped using the Iranian airspace and are flying alternative routes for their long-haul flights, according to officials.
With the alternative routes, flights to destinations in Europe, UK, and the US are taking longer, which also means burning more fuel.
On Wednesday, IndiGo said it will adjust its long-haul flights operated with leased Dreamliners, wherein services to Copenhagen will be suspended from February 17 while the flights on Delhi-London-Heathrow and Delhi-Manchester routes will also be reduced.
An Air India source said the airline is using an alternative route for destinations in the US, the UK and Europe. Air India operates flights to various US cities as well as Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.