In pursuance of the decision taken in the First meeting of Civil Aviation Economic Advisory Council held on 13 December 2010, it has been decided to set up a Working Group on Regulatory Framework to protect consumer interest including disclosure of tariffs and conditions of service by domestic airlines under Civil Aviation Economic Advisory Council (CAEAC) in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The Terms of Reference for the Working Group are as under:

·         The Group shall examine the existing system of passenger fare structuring by all the scheduled domestic airlines and the manner in which the passenger fares are disclosed to public in the context of the reported difficulties of consumers in making an informed choice.

·         The Group shall identify areas where disclosure of tariffs and conditions of service by scheduled domestic airlines require further improvement in promoting transparency with a view to protect interest of consumers.

·         The Group shall, based on its finding, recommend measures to enhance transparency in the disclosure of tariffs and conditions of service relating to scheduled domestic airlines.

·         The Group shall also recommend improvements in the system of monitoring by DGCA so as to ensure transparency and disclosure of passenger air fares and conditions of service by scheduled domestic airlines.

·         The Group shall study International best practices in disclosure and transparency of prices by airlines.

·         The Group shall recommend measures that may be required to be taken to raise consumer awareness towards passenger rights.

The Working Group will have the following composition:

§         Director General of Civil Aviation                                                                           Chairman

§         Shri D. Sudhakara Reddy, Air Passengers Association of India                   Member

§         Shri Dilip Cherian, (Member of the Board of Governors in                          Member

Advertising Standard Council of India and National Institute of

Design)

§         Shri Rajji Rai, President, Travel Agents Association of India                       Member

§         Representative of Air India Ltd.                                                                               Member

§         Representative of InterGlobe Aviation  (IndiGo) Pvt. Ltd.                           Member

§         Shri Kapil Kaul, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA)                              Member

This Working Group will be serviced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The first report on this subject shall be submitted by the Working Group on or before 30 December 2010 to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

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MC