NEW DELHI: Airlines will soon be allowed to charge for all checkedin baggage on domestic flights, a move that’s been strongly condemned by passenger groups as sure to raise fares further.Passengers now don’t have to pay for bags that are checked in as long as this is within the stipulated weight limit, generally 15 kg in economy class, paying only when they exceed this. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) is set to accede to the demand by airlines that they be allowed to charge for all such baggage as part of the unbundling of fares.“Airlines had sought permission to abolish the concept of free baggage and instead incentivise those passengers who travel without any luggage through discount in fares,” said a senior DGCA official, who did not want to be identified. “We are trying to formulate a mechanism to ensure that the discount is uniform across airlines and they will soon be allowed to charge for check-in baggage.”But D Sudhakara Reddy, president of the Air Passengers Association of India, said any suggestion that this would mean cheaper fares for passengers with just cabin baggage was bogus. “This is absolute rubbish. All this unbundling will only burden passengers further. The argument that unbundling will lead to ultra-low fares for passengers, who do not want any frills, does not wash,” he said. “Consider this: Have fares come down after the airlines were allowed to charge for selection of seats? It has not. Hence, these schemes will only burden passengers further.”The question about charging for checked-in bags first arose after AirAsia India announced its plan to do so at the time of its launch in June last year. The aviation regulator had then asked the airline to desist from this as the norms did not allow such unbundling of fares. Airlines have backed the move on baggage, saying it will provide them the flexibility to offer ultra-low fares.“All those charges will be approved by us,” said the regulatory official cited above. The statement on charging for seats by Reddy refers to the DGCA having allowed airlines to do so in May. This led to airlines charging for seat selection apart from imposing higher cancellation charges.DGCA is reviewing the cancellation fees being charged after many parliamentarians complained against this to the civil aviation ministry. The ministry has also asked the regulator to review fares on high-density routes in the past five years to better understand the effect of adding more flights.“The civil aviation ministry has asked us to analyse how the maximum fares moved in the past five years on key high-density routes, and we have started our analysis,” said the DGCA official.