The authorities in India have imposed limit of 25 per cent on the pre-booking of preferential seats in the domestic flights in the country.

Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Mishra said that the domestic airlines will now only be able to offer 25 per cent of the total aircraft capacity for pre-booking. The authorities will also restrict the airlines from selling the middle seats, except for those in the front and emergency rows that are mostly preferred due to the extra leg room.

The regulator said, "DGCA reserves the right to intervene and stop them from charging any specific unbundled service if principles such as opt-in , transparency, non-discrimination are found to be violated by airlines."

The regulator has allowed the airlines to charge extra for pre-booking of seats, use of airline lounges, check-in baggage and carrying sports and musical equipment on board in the country. The airlines then started selling all their seats through pre-bookings and this raised concerns among the passengers as well as the regulator. The regulator asked the airlines to offer only a section of seats in pre-bookings and has now imposed a limit of 25 per cent