SpiceJet's Red Hot Spicy Low fare Deal, a lie?

BENGALURU: A passenger consumer rights body in a first of its kind has registered a complaint at the ministry of civil aviation questioning fares availability as was advertised by low-cost carrier, SpiceJet. The “Red Hot Spicy” Airlines had announced five-day sale one-way, base fare of Rs 444 for its Jammu-Srinagar, Ahmedabad-Mumbai, Mumbai-Goa, Delhi-Dehradun and Delhi-Amritsar routes as reported by The Times of India.

"Fares would vary from sector to sector, depending on the travel distance and flight schedules, and timings are subject to regulatory approvals and changes," SpiceJet said, maintaining that the seats would be only available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Complaints were registered soon on the same offer, as many visited the airline's website. "We started getting complaints from 10.20am, stating that no such fare was available even for a short distance of less than 500km," said Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers' Association of India (APAI).

Most complainants were based of Delhi who tried to book tickets from Delhi to Dehradun, Amritsar and Chandigarh. "We checked the website and soon realised that even during the first half of the day, there were no Rs 444 fares available, as advertised," said Reddy. According to APAI, the only Rs 444 fare deal they got was from Bengaluru to Mangaluru.

TOI also reported that there was an Rs 439 one-way, basic fare to Goa for dates in July, August, and September, which came to Rs 1,333 after taxes in the evening. There was also a Rs 444 fare deal available for Ahmedabad route, as advertised by SpiceJet.

Around 4 pm, the ministry and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was sent a complaint by APAI. The complaint said “We strongly believe these are nothing but gimmicks, and gullible passengers are being fooled and taken for a ride. Please let us know what action do you propose to take? If on the day when the advertisement has appeared, no such fares are available, please tell us what is the logic in saying flights booked between June 22 and 26 will be discount fares?"

When SpiceJet was contacted on the basis of the same, it denied the charges completely by saying that the allegation is completely baseless, as the sale of tickets was under a limited inventory, and was available on first-come, first-serve basis. SpiceJet also told that it was ready to share names of bona-fide customers with DGCA with complete booking details for further verification.

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