After a massive public uproar over the exorbitant airfares to Kashmir, especially during the winters and peak holiday season, the J&K administration has started a crackdown on the airlines and ticketing agents.
According to an official spokesperson, the Crime Branch, Kashmir has registered case against the ticketing agents and airlines operating in J&K under Section 420, 468, 471, 409 r/w Section 120-B IPC.
“The action was taken after the Crime Branch Kashmir received complaints from various travel associations and trade bodies through Director Tourism Kashmir regarding alleged sale of air tickets by various travel agents on highly exorbitant rates by acting in league with air lines staff,” the official spokesperson said in a statement.
“The Crime branch conducted an enquiry on these complaints at Police Station Crime Branch Kashmir, which revealed that the officials of various airlines sell group tickets in bulk in the name of passengers who are not members of any group and neither have sought their tickets as group members,” the official statement said.
“The tickets obtained in advance by the travel agents as group tickets are black marketed by them at exorbitant prices as individual tickets and airlines staff accept individual as group tickets passengers as group members at the time of check- in, in violation of terms and conditions of air lines for group booking,” the statement said.
“It transpired that air lines, by selling the bulk tickets in advance to travel agents, create an artificial & imaginary shortage in respect of availability of tickets online for general Public, which directly impacts the price index and results in high inflation in the air travel fares, thus paving way for fleecing of general Public by travel agents who, by purchasing tickets at a very low cost sell these tickets at high rates,” the statement added.
“Thus, the travel agents by acting in furtherance of criminal conspiracy hatched with air lines staff, have been cheating the bonafide passengers and causing loss to the Public exchequer by tax evasion with corresponding wrongful gain,” it added.
The action comes after years of outcry by general public about the fleecing that the airlines and ticketing agents indulge in to make extra bucks while selling tickets during the peak season and highway closure.