CCI Closes Complaint Alleging Excessive Air Ticket Cancellation Charges by IndiGo, Air India

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday dismissed a complaint accusing airlines IndiGo and Air India of imposing excessive and unfair air ticket cancellation charges, holding that no prima facie violation of competition law was made out.

A coram of Chairperson Ravneet Kaur and Members Anil Agrawal, Sweta Kakkad, and Deepak Anurag passed the order.

The information was filed by Kannadiputhur Sundararaman Suresh, a consumer, against InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (IndiGo) and Air India Ltd, alleging violation of Sections 3 and 4 of the Competition Act, 2002.

The informant alleged that IndiGo, with around 65% market share, and Air India, with around 27%, together control over 90% of the domestic aviation market and impose unfair and excessive cancellation charges on passengers.

He further alleged that the two airlines had acted in concert to determine cancellation charges for air tickets.

Referring to his own experience, the informant stated that on November 3, 2024, he had booked two tickets worth ₹12,488 through MakeMyTrip but cancelled them within minutes after realising that the travel dates were incorrect.

He received only Rs 3,054 as a refund, with Rs 9,434 deducted towards airline cancellation fees and other charges.

He contended that such deductions were excessive and contrary to Section 74 of the Indian Contract Act, which permits only reasonable compensation for breach of contract.

Alleging unfair trade practices, abuse of dominance and anti-competitive conduct, he sought directions to restrict cancellation charges to 10% of the fare excluding taxes or Rs 1,000, whichever is lower, and to require airlines to allow free cancellation within 24 hours of booking.

The Commission observed that the informant had not produced any evidence to show that IndiGo and Air India had entered into any agreement or understanding to influence cancellation charges.

The Commission further noted that the concept of collective dominance is not recognised under the Competition Act, and therefore allegations based on the airlines functioning as a duopoly fall outside the scope of the Act.

It also observed that airlines offer different ticket categories with varying refund conditions.

“A passenger has options to select a fare that will give him the maximum or full refund depending on the airline and type of air fare selected, time of cancellation of the ticket, amongst other factors. The refund and cancellation terms are disclosed to passengers in advance. These are applied equally to all consumers and not in a discriminatory, unfair or exclusionary manner,” the Commission said.

The Commission also noted that the remedy for an alleged breach of the Indian Contract Act does not lie before it, observing that “dissatisfaction with a contractual term or desire for more favourable terms and conditions does not constitute violation of the Act.”

Holding that no prima facie case of contravention was made out, the Commission closed the complaint.

Separately, the competition watchdog is already investigating IndiGo over the mass cancellation of flights in December 2025 to examine whether the airline abused its dominant position by cancelling flights and causing fare spikes.

About 4,500 flights were cancelled, stranding thousands of passengers and triggering scrutiny over whether the airline's conduct restricted capacity and pushed up fares.