Why Air Fare Regulation Under British-Era Law: MP

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Uproar in Lok Sabha Over Skyrocketing Airfares

By TRH News Desk

New Delhi, March 27: Lok Sabha on Thursday witnessed uproar over the skyrocketing airfares. Lok Sabha MP Raj Kumar Roat asked the government “why the airfare regulation is done under a British-era law”.

“The law on regulating air fares dates back to 1937. Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims that he has abolished the British-era laws. But why the airfares are still dealt under the British-era law,” asked Roat, who is a Lok Sabha MP from the Bharat Adivasi Party. He represents the Banswara Lok Sabha constituency.

“If two persons book air tickets at the same time, one is charged ₹10,000 while another pays ₹15000. Under what system the airfares are decided in such manners,” asked Roat during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu replied, saying that while the British-era law still exists, “the rules are consistently updated”. Naidu said that the airfares are based on dynamic system.

But Roat persisted saying that “the airfares are arbitrary and there appears no regulations at all”. DMK MP A. Raja also raised the issue of the arbitrariness of airfares.

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“As we saw in the telecommunication sector, competition has the potential to bring down the cost. Why the government is not promoting competition among the airlines,” asked Raja.

Naidu said that the VAT on the air turbine fuels is a major cause of the high airfares. He said that “ATFs constitute 45 per cent of the operational costs of the airlines”.

“As many as 15 states have brought down the VAT on ATF to five per cent. But there are some states such as Tamil Nadu who still charge almost 30 per cent VAT on ATF,” said Naidu.

The Minister said that the government will soon “bring changes in laws to promote leasing of aircrafts within the country”. “The leasing within India has the potential to bring down the cost by eight to 10 per cent. This in a long run may help in lowering the airfares,” said Naidu.

But the lower House of parliament witnessed uproar, with MP saying that they were not satisfied with the replies of the minister. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that the House will soon have a half an hour discussion on the issue of the high airfares. He also said that a private member bill is slated for discussion in the House on Friday.

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