Opinion Weak regulation and tainted capitalism

When IndiGo cancelled thousands of flights this December — stranding lakhs of passengers, destroying travel plans, and exposing India’s vulnerability to a quasi-monopoly airline — it was tempting to blame it all on one company’s ‘rogue behaviour’. Scratching the surface reveals a deeper malaise: a chronic weakening of India’s regulatory institutions, and a form of tainted capitalism where dominant private players face little real accountability. The crisis was not an aberration; it was an inevitability.

India’s regulators are meant to be quasi-judicial bodies — independent, evidence-driven, and powerful enough to discipline the biggest corporations. In principle, they play a role analogous to courts: interpreting rules, enforcing compliance, and protecting public interest. In practice, mo