IndiGo Crisis Exposes Monopoly Peril: India's Skies Too Concentrated, Consumers Suffer

• IndiGo's operational crisis revealed India's aviation market vulnerability due to extreme concentration, paralyzing national mobility.
• India has shifted from public monopolies to private duopolies/oligopolies, creating "national champions" but reducing consumer choice and market resilience.
• IndiGo carries nearly two-thirds of domestic passengers; its disruptions highlight a flawed market design lacking redundancy and systemic risk mitigation.
• Existing competition law is blind to dominance not arising from mergers, while consumer protection is weak for mass-harm events, lacking automatic compensation or collective redress.
• Regulators like DGCA lack the power to impose structural remedies or economic penalties, making the economy fragile and consumers vulnerable to essential service failures.

Why It Matters: IndiGo's crisis shows market concentration's high price; India needs stronger regulation for consumer protection.