The issue of dynamic pricing of airline tickets hit the headlines recently during the on-going Jat quota agitation with the fare between Delhi and Chandigarh touching record levels of nearly Rs 1 lakh from the normal Rs. 3000. Taking advantage of passengers at the drop of a hat and particularly during a public agitation in which they had no role speaks of the irresponsibility of the airlines and their tendency to exploit the travelling passengers. Even at other times the airlines hike fares making it expensive for weekend travel, during the major public holidays and common vacation periods. Is there no need to regulate this? On the plea of economics of running an airline, the operators are fleecing the travelling public in a calculated manner. It is time therefore that pricing is bench-marked to the distance traveled so that some modicum of rationalization of fares is established.
While there is no harm in charging passengers extra for facilities provided by the carriers like business or first class travel, food and drinks on board and extra baggage, the basic economy class fare should remain fixed. This can of course change on an annual basis or take into account sudden surges in fuel prices. This methodology sets an expectation of the cost of air travel between destinations and helps passengers to better plan for their travel. The current pricing mechanism suffers from the malaise that most people feel being cheated since the value for money criteria is completely given the go-by. The luxury buses plying particularly to Goa follow the same practices and charge fares during peak season just below the airfares to destinations like Bombay though providing for sleeper class travel.
The Indian Railways is also reported to be toying with dynamic pricing for fares and has introduced this already for the tickets booked under the tatkal category. This is actually against the charter to provide for safe and economic travel across the country to Indian citizens for which the Railways was established. In Goa, the hotels tend to follow the same dynamic pricing basis.
Their plea being that business is seasonal and they have to make up the lean season losses that they incur. If one follows this laissez faire policy across all transportation and hospitality sectors than again as we have seen in Goa, why are taxi drivers blamed when they charge exorbitant fares from their passengers? Why does the government then step in and put up charts at airports and railway stations what the taxi fare should be for various destinations?
The same laissez faire policy should be made applicable to taxi drivers allowing them to charge what the passengers will pay or what the market can bear. It should not be that big business like airlines and the hotel industry have one rule while for the smaller people like taxi drivers there is a separate rule. In the same manner when we go to the market the commodities that we buy for our needs, the ones for daily consumption and otherwise are determined by market forces and no one complains about them in a serious manner. Based on the price a decision is taken to buy a particular thing or not. Thus across the board the free market policy should be applied and singling out only taxi drivers for regulation is patently unfair.
