Congress MP alleges overcharging by Air India on Vande Bharat flights

A Congress MP from Punjab on Monday alleged malpractice and overcharging by Air India on flights under the Vande Bharat Mission, and demanded action against those involved in it.

A Congress MP from Punjab on Monday alleged malpractice and overcharging by Air India on flights under the Vande Bharat Mission, and demanded action against those involved in it. In a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the MP from Amritsar constituency Gurjeet Singh Aujla sought his intervention in ensuring transparency.

"Vande Bharat Mission flights were started to save Indians stranded elsewhere in the world (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), but it is turning out to be an exercise to mint money for a cash-strapped airline. This kind of malpractice cannot happen without a nexus within the organization," Aujla alleged. "I, therefore, request your good office to intervene in this matter and create a foolproof system to issue VBM tickets and initiate strict action against the nexus," he wrote to the minister.

He cited complaints from passengers belonging to the Majha region of Punjab who are settled or studying in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. "Almost all have been overcharged and had to travel on expensive tickets. On some occasions it has been reported that the travel agents refused to supply the passengers with the original invoice and also hesitated to process refund of the tickets to avoid suspicion," he alleged.

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