Supreme Court orders Indian government to publish new airfare rules within two weeks

During a hearing on August 18, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to ground airlines that do not comply with forthcoming airfare orders and to present the published rules to the court by November 16.

The government has administrative approval to publish new airfare regulations within two weeks, with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informing the bench that the rules would be released in that timeframe and Solicitor General Anil Kaushik stating the exercise would be completed within three weeks and the final rules submitted to the court; the petition challenges what it calls arbitrary and exorbitant pricing by private carriers, and the court noted that stringent action could follow if they fail to adhere to the regulatory norms.