Noting that Air India was reportedly at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the private players, a

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Parliamentary Committee has asked the government to make rules to penalise those airlines which were not operating 10 per cent of their capacity to socially important but commercially unviable routes like the Northeast.

The recommendation of the Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) came in the wake of reports that the state-run Air India was facing a disadvantage as profitable routes in both domestic and international sectors were being allocated to private carriers.

Noting that these reports cannot be ignored, the COPU sought amendments to the Route Dispersal Guidelines to ensure "strict compliance" by all scheduled airlines to mandatorily operate 10 per cent of their flights to such sectors, called Category-II, II-A or III routes.

It suggested that airlines be compensated for operating flights in these far-flung regions in excess of this mandatory requirement.

The COPU report, tabled in Parliament on Friday, also sought creation of a mechanism to make these guidelines "mandatory for all private airlines and for punitive action against the violators".

It listed out over 80 international and domestic routes from where Air India withdrew flights since 2002-03.