The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is examining whether IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, violated competition norms, a senior official said on Friday, amid regulatory scrutiny over the carrier’s recent flight disruptions.

IndiGo, which controls over 65 per cent of the domestic market, cancelled hundreds of flights starting December 2, causing hardships for thousands of passengers. The situation is now reportedly stabilising.

While aviation safety regulator DGCA is probing the disruptions and stepping up scrutiny of IndiGo's operations, concerns have emerged over whether the airline's dominant position could have contributed to the issues.

"The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is internally examining whether IndiGo violated competition norms," the senior official told PTI.

The official added, "Various aspects, such as the overall dominant position, dominance in particular routes, and whether there is abuse of dominance, will be looked into."

"There is no formal complaint against IndiGo so far, and the CCI is examining whether competition rules have been violated suo motu," the official said.

Section 4 of the Competition Act addresses abuse of dominance, which can be either exploitative or exclusionary. Exploitative acts include excessive pricing, while denial of market access falls under the exclusionary segment.

Under the norms, the CCI first conducts a detailed examination of available information to determine whether there is prima facie evidence of competition norms violations. "Only when there is prima facie evidence of violations, then the regulator orders a probe into the matter," the official explained.

The official further noted, "An entity being dominant is not anti-competitive, but if there is an abuse of the dominance, then it violates competition norms."

The operational disruptions at IndiGo have been largely attributed to poor planning in implementing the new flight duty norms from November 1, among other factors.

The CCI works to prevent anti-competitive practices in the marketplace while promoting fair business conduct. Among its powers, the regulator can penalise entities and issue cease-and-desist orders to curb unfair business practices across sectors.