What's free web check-in when all seats are paid? Govt asks airlines, raises concerns over unfair practices
consumer affairs ministry has expressed concerns regarding unfair trade practices adopted by airlines and online travel aggregators. As per a TOI report, these practices include misleading claims such as showing every seat as 'paid' despite offering a «free mandatory web check-in», denying boarding to passengers with confirmed tickets, and delayed refunds.
Consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh has highlighted that airlines are designing online interfaces in a way that manipulates decision making and suppresses consumer autonomy, which is known as a «dark pattern», according to sources.
The consumer affairs department has stated that such deceptive and manipulative conduct through dark patterns in online interfaces unfairly exploits consumers and is classified as an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act. Despite numerous complaints from flyers, some of which were raised through the Air Seva service, the government has struggled to address these issues effectively.
Singh has pointed out that the high number of grievances indicates that consumer complaints are not being adequately resolved.
Over the past year, the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has received nearly 10,000 complaints related to airlines. In response, the consumer affairs department has called for a meeting with the CEOs of all domestic airlines and online travel aggregators to discuss these concerns and find ways to address them.
The meeting is expected to take place within the next two weeks.
Data from the NCH reveals that approximately 41% of the complaints are related to airlines' refusal to provide refunds even after ticket cancellations, followed by complaints regarding deficient services (15%). Around 5% of the grievances
