As widespread cancellations by IndiGo triggered chaos across airports, domestic air ticket prices surged to eye-watering levels — especially on busy routes. That prompted Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to intervene with an immediate order imposing temporary fare caps for economy-class domestic flights nationwide. 

Under the new rules: journeys up to 500 km are capped at ₹7,500, 500–1,000 km at ₹12,000, 1,000–1,500 km at ₹15,000, and over 1,500 km at ₹18,000. These ceilings exclude service fees, taxes, and do not apply to business class or certain regional-connectivity flights.

The government warned that any fare hikes beyond these limits would trigger immediate action. Airlines must also maintain enough seats across fare categories and add capacity where demand has exploded.

While the caps aim to restore pricing sanity, analysts caution that many travellers have already suffered — having paid far above these limits before the intervention. The move buys time for stability, but the broader turbulence in scheduling, capacity and demand continues. The caps will remain until operations normalise and fares stabilise.