India, April 3 -- The civil aviation ministry on Thursday suspended a directive requiring airlines to let passengers select at least 60% of seats on any flight without a seat-selection fee, less than three weeks after announcing the rule as part of a passenger rights push.

The ministry of civil aviation said the provision would be kept "in abeyance till further orders" pending a "comprehensive examination of the issue," according to a letter dated April 2 addressed to the Director General of Civil Aviation.

The ministry said the rollback followed representations from the Federation of Indian Airlines and Akasa Air, which flagged the rule's potential impact on fare structures and its consistency with India's deregulated tariff regime. Th...