Competition Comm rejects complaint against IndiGo

The Competition Commission has rejected allegations that leading airline IndiGo abused its dominant position by imposing arbitrary and unfair conditions on passengers.
Rejecting the complaint, the regulator said there is "no prima facie case" of contravention of competition rules.
To ascertain whether there is prima facie evidence of violation of competition norms in the case, the Commission considered 'market of air transport services for passengers in India' as the relevant one.
"... No information is available in the public domain indicating the position of strength of opposition party 1 (Interglobe Aviation), which enables it to operate independently of competitive forces prevailing in the relevant market," the Commission said in its order, dated June 25 and released today.

Interglobe Aviation operates airline under the name IndiGo.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) also noted that the complainant has not produced any cogent material to show the dominance of Interglobe Aviation in the market.

The complaint was filed by one Udit Gupta from the national capital against Interglobe Aviation -- and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Based on the submissions made by the complainant, the Commission said the person is "aggrieved primarily by the alleged conduct of opposite party (Interglobe Aviation) imposing arbitrary, unfair and unreasonable conditions on the passengers".
The regulator said a factor for determining dominance is the dependence of consumers on the enterprise.

"Presence of other players in a significant way in the relevant market indicates that the consumers have option to avail service from other players in the relevant market," it said, adding that the consumer does not seem to be dependent on IndiGo.
Further, the Commission said that most of the flight tickets are either booked online or through agents.
"The cost of information (about flights, fare, timing and availability etc) is negligible. The consumer can easily compare fare, timing and availability of seats across various airline companies. It helps passenger to take well informed decision and pick the best available option," it said.

It was alleged that Interglobe Aviation has devised a standard form of terms and conditions, which the passengers have to accept.