A BJP MP today sought the prime minister's intervention in putting a cap on airfare to the Northeast as he claimed that the airlines have been "exploiting" travellers by "unreasonably" increasing fares, taking undue advantage of floods in Assam.
The BJP lawmaker from Tezpur, Ram Prasad Sarmah, said airfares to the Northeast have spiralled by four to six times of normal fares in many cases, leading to resentment in the minds of the people.
The "unreasonable and exorbitant increase of airfare by airlines by taking undue advantage of natural calamities caused by unprecedented floods in Assam" has caused untold miseries to the people of the region, he said in the letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Seeking the prime minister's intervention, Sarmah requested him to take steps for "putting a cap on the airfare on hourly basis of flight so that the airlines do not resort to exploitation of the people taking undue advantage of natural calamities, crises and helplessness of the people".
The Lok Sabha MP said the airlines, instead of helping people in times of calamities and crises, have resorted to "exploitation" of the people of the Northeast.
Assam has been hit by the third successive wave of floods which made 4.5 lakh people homeless, while 156 people lost their lives so far.
Floods have also affected Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, and train services to the Northeast have been snapped.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
