Union Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi directed the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) and the Department of Consumer Affairs on May 23 to investigate whether online flight booking platforms charge consumers cancellation fees higher than what airlines actually levy.

What triggered it: When consumers book flights through online travel aggregators (OTAs) like Agoda, MakeMyTrip, or Cleartrip rather than directly on the airline’s website, the OTA may charge its own cancellation fee on top of the airline’s fee.

BJP member Tejinder Bagga posted on X, flagging the following discrepancy on his Agoda booking for an Akasa Air ticket:

• Agoda’s cancellation fee shown to Bagga: Rs 4,764, leaving a refund of Rs 1,571
• Akasa Air’s actual cancellation fee: Rs 299, with a refund of Rs 6,076
• The difference: Rs 4,465, or 15x the airline’s actual cancellation fee

Bagga tagged Agoda India, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), and consumer rights handle Jago Grahak Jago in his post, asking: “If the airline is deducting only Rs 299, why is Agoda charging me Rs 4,764? That’s an extra Rs 4,465 for what exactly? Charging 15 times the airline’s actual cancellation fee for the same ticket feels completely unethical.”

What the probe covers:

• Whether platforms charge cancellation fees beyond what airlines levy
• Whether fees are disclosed to consumers at the time of booking
• All online ticket booking platforms, not just Agoda

Joshi posted on X:

“I have directed the Department of Consumer Affairs and CCPA to investigate whether online ticket booking platforms are imposing excessive cancellation charges on consumers, beyond what is charged by airlines or disclosed at the time of booking. Have directed them to check other online ticket booking platforms too. Such practices undermine transparency and consumer trust and, if found to be unfair or in violation of consumer rights, may amount to Unfair Trade Practices under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. CCPA will take necessary action, including class action measures wherever appropriate, to protect consumer interests and ensure fair treatment of consumers.”

The CCPA issued a notice to Uber over its advance tip feature in May 2025; Joshi expanded the probe to Ola and Rapido the following day. He similarly directed a detailed investigation into Flipkart’s cash-on-delivery extra charges in October 2025, expanding it to all e-commerce platforms.

What consumers can do: Consumers who cancelled a flight via an OTA and received a lower refund than expected can check the airline’s own cancellation policy on its website using their PNR. If the OTA charged more than the airline’s stated fee, the difference may be recoverable. Complaints can be filed through the National Consumer Helpline (1915) or on Jago Grahak Jago.

Why this matters: Agoda did not disclose at the time of booking that its cancellation fee would be Rs 4,465 higher than what Akasa Air actually charges. Charging fees that bear no relationship to the airline’s actual cost, without upfront disclosure, falls within drip pricing — one of 13 dark pattern categories explicitly prohibited under the CCPA’s 2023 Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns. LocalCircles previously identified drip pricing on 11 of 26 platforms that filed dark pattern self-audits with the CCPA, including Cleartrip and MakeMyTrip.

What the IndiGo disruptions revealed: Another LocalCircles survey reported by MediaNama, conducted during IndiGo’s December 2025 disruptions, found that dark patterns in airline booking and cancellation flows affected 12.5 lakh passengers:

• 80% of airline passengers faced undisclosed fees that appeared only at the final payment stage. Akasa Air, Air India, and SpiceJet recorded the highest incidence.
• 70% encountered bait-and-switch refund discrepancies. In one case, a passenger paid Rs 39,180 but received only Rs 1,788 despite public assurances of full refunds.

Indian OTAs, including MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, and Ixigo, have filed dark pattern compliance declarations with the CCPA. Airlines and foreign OTAs like Agoda have faced no equivalent scrutiny.

CCPA has acted on airlines and OTAs before:

• The CCPA suo motu issued a notice to IndiGo in June 2024 for dark patterns including opaque seat assignment and confirm shaming, a practice in which platforms use guilt-inducing language to pressure users into accepting add-ons, such as asking users to click “I will stay unsecured” to opt out of travel insurance. IndiGo was directed to update its interface and complied.
• The CCPA directed Yatra to refund booking amounts to consumers affected by Covid-19 cancellations after non-refund complaints surfaced through the National Consumer Helpline

Update (May 27, 2026): Agoda, in response to this story, said that “all applicable booking and cancellation conditions, including cancellation fees, are displayed to users during the booking flow prior to payment completion” and that fees “may vary depending on factors such as fare type, supplier conditions, booking channel and other applicable variables.” Agoda did not address the Rs 4,465 gap between its cancellation fee and Akasa Air’s stated charge of Rs 299.

Also read:

• IndiGo Disruptions Expose Dark Patterns on Airline Apps, LocalCircles Survey Finds
• RTI Shows 25 Platforms Filed Dark Pattern Audits, But None Made Public
• CCPA Publishes Dark Pattern Self-Audits Of 18 E-Commerce And Quick Commerce Platforms, But Questions Remain