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Informist, Friday, Jul. 24, 2026

 

--InterGlobe: CCI orders to keep investigation against co in abeyance 

 

NEW DELHI – The Competition Commission of India has stayed its director general probe against Interglobe Aviation Ltd., the parent of IndiGo airline, on the airline abusing its dominant position by cancelling flights and withholding services in December. The antitrust regulator's stay came after InterGlobe Aviation filed a commitment application to address the concerns identified in the probe order in a timely and effective manner by managing similar large-scale disruptions effectively in case they arise, the airline said in a stock exchange filing.  

 

The competition regulator has asked all interested persons and stakeholders to submit their written comments, objections, or suggestions on InterGlobe Aviation's commitments. Any person submitting comments, objections, suggestions, information or documents who desires confidential treatment of any part thereof may submit a request for confidentiality in accordance with the procedure prescribed under the Competition Commission of India (General) Regulations, 2024, said the regulator in its order. 

 

In the commitment application, the airline said it would strengthen passenger handling and assistance policy. It will also on-board additional vendors at various airports to ensure adequate provision of meal boxes, water and surface transport for passengers. In the event of large-scale flight disruptions, the airline will provide alternative flights at no additional cost within 48 to 72 hours of passengers' original scheduled time. Where passengers do not accept such alternative arrangements or the airline is unable to provide alternative flights, automatic refunds will be processed within a definite timeline, it said. 

 

Meal boxes and water will be distributed free of charge to passengers who have checked in the airport in a timely manner, said the airline. It will also provide hotel accommodation and local conveyance for affected passengers who were either booked on the airline's connected flight or are not local residents of the relevant origin airport, it said. The airline will have a dedicated passenger grievance redressal cell for complaints relating to large scale disruptions and it will also have an experienced war room to assist customers, it said.

 

The airline proposed to further strengthen its internal preparedness and response mechanisms to address unforeseen operational contingencies and large-scale disruptions. In particular, it will institutionalise a structured crisis management group specifically designed for timely identification, assessment, and resolution of situations which may potentially disrupt IndiGo's usual operations, said InterGlobe Aviation. The airline said it will maintain records of crisis management groups and disruption response measures, which will be provided to the antitrust regulator when such large scale disruptions occur.  

 

Further, during large-scale disruptions, the airline will undertake measures for planning and executing network adjustment to ensure regularisation of operations post such disruptions, said InterGlobe Aviation. The airline shall release the associated domestic landing and departure slots to the relevant airport operators or authority for a limited period, it said. It will also provide a copy of a correspondence with airport authorities to the competition regulator, it said.

 

IndiGo saw unprecedented flight cancellations in December due to a crew shortage, following the enforcement of new flight duty time limitation rules. These flight cancellations led to several passengers being stranded at airports across the country. 

 

In February, the competition regulator prima facie concluded that InterGlobe Aviation's conduct of cancelling flights and withholding services during the December disruptions appeared to restrict consumer access and choice. By cancelling thousands of flights constituting a significant portion of the scheduled capacity, InterGlobe Aviation effectively withheld its service from the market, creating an artificial scarcity, limiting consumer access to air travel during peak demand, said the regulator, adding that such conduct by a dominant enterprise might be viewed as restricting the provision of services under the Competition Act, 2002. 

 

The competition regulator had observed that passengers who had booked tickets were left with no real choice but to accept last-minute cancellations. Further, passengers were left to seek alternatives on their own at significantly higher prices, said the regulator. Given InterGlobe Aviation's dominant position, consumers were effectively locked in and lacked viable alternatives which appeared to be in violation of the 2002 Act, it said. After the regulator's order for a director general probe, InterGlobe Aviation filed a commitment application to offer behavioral and structural remedies to resolve anti-competitive investigation.

 

At 1246 IST, shares of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. were down 1.2% at INR 4,964.00 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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