Airline companies charging too high: Aujla

Amritsar, July 27

Member of Parliament Gurjeet Singh Aujla has raised the issue of privatisation and fleecing by airline companies in Parliament yesterday. There was also a vigorous debate on the subject with Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.

Aujla raised the issue of unregulated hike in ticket prices by airlines. He said that many people have to postpone their journey due to this ‘robbery’ by the airlines. He said that even after receiving the report of the Parliament Standing Committee on the subject way back on August 10, 2023, there has been no change. “During the coronavirus pandemic, the airlines had increased the prices many times, but now the hike has not been reduced despite the situation turning normal. The BJP government has been in power for the last 10 years, so instead of pointing fingers, why have these things not been corrected,” he asked.

Giving an example, Gurjit Singh Aujla said that lakhs of people visit Amritsar as tourist destination, but the tickets keep getting costly as regulations are not in place.

Talking about international flights, he said for a ticket to Singapore, the international airlines charge anything between Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 one-way while the domestic airlines charge Rs 28,000 for one-way ticket. “Many people fly to UAE from Punjab but Air India Express tickets from Amritsar are 25 to 35 per cent expensive than from Delhi. Amritsar is at a distance of 400 kilometres less than Delhi but the ticket is expensive,” he said. Aujla targeted BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and said that if the NDA government has been in power for 10 years, then why nothing has been done to regulate the situation.

He also raised the issue of privatisation of public bodies, saying that the entire country has been privatised. He said that he supports the private bill brought by Congress MP Shafi Parambil on regulating airfare but it should be strictly implemented. He demanded that a regulatory committee be formed to fix airfare and other expenses for the airlines.