IndiGo to Face CCI Probe After Paying ₹22 Cr Over Dec Meltdown

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered a formal investigation into IndiGo over its recent mass flight cancellations. The move comes more than two months after the airline's operational meltdown in December 2025 upended travel plans nationwide and stranded thousands of passengers in multiple airports.

Notably, during the second week of December, CCI had said that it has taken cognizance of the information filed against IndiGo in the context of the flight disruptions. Based on the initial assessment, the commission at that time had ha decided to proceed further in the matter in accordance with the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002.

In its order, CCI has said that IndiGo cancelled thousands of flights, cutting out a big chunk of the airline seats available at a time when many people were trying to travel.

Since IndiGo holds a very large share of the domestic market (about 60%), the regulator said this could have reduced options for passengers and pushed up ticket prices, effectively creating an "artificial scarcity" of seats.

The regulator also noted that the airline's dominance meant that when it pulled back flights, passengers had limited alternatives and were sometimes forced to pay much more for later flights.

Additionally, it observed that the disruptions of flights were not confined to one or a few routes but occurred almost simultaneously across a wide network of "domestic origin–destination pairs".

The CCI has now asked its Director General (DG) to carry out a detailed investigation to determine whether IndiGo's actions violated India's competition law by abusing its position and hurting consumers.

After the crisis, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had cut the airline's winter schedule by 10% until February 10. The DGCA had also levied a penalty of ₹22.2 crore on the airline.

Following the meltdown, the company's net profit declined by 77.55% to ₹549.80 crore during the third quarter the financial year 2025–26 (FY26). This was majorly due to the disruption, penalties by the government and new labour code costs. The company said it took a hit of ₹969.3 crore from operational disruptions and ₹577.2 crore from other issues, including the DGCA penalty.