New Delhi, Nov 16 (PTI) 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.

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"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 organisation," 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.

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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 ticket. On some occasions it has been reported that the travel agents refused to supply the passengers with original invoice and also hesitated to process refund of the tickets to avoid suspicion," he alleged.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)