Passengers' union takes airlines to court on fuel surcharge

What if you were told that the Monday morning Mumbai-Delhi flight that you booked for Rs 5,429 has an element of illegality to it as the
fuel surcharge charged by the airline was not legal? If you have never thought about it, think now, as a consumer rights organisation has dragged Indian carriers to court, challenging the very premise on which airlines levy fuel surcharge on basic air fare.
The petition filed recently by Air Passengers Association of India (APAI), a 19-year old consumer rights organisation has the central government, the Director General of Civil Aviation and all Indian carriers, including Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Spice Jet, Go Air and IndiGo, as respondents in a case which questions the legality of levying this surcharge. "The government was supposed to file a reply by April 23, but they haven't done it yet,'' said D Sudhakara Reddy, the APAI president who filed the petition in the Madras high court in mid-April.
"Fuel surcharge is one charge which is being illegally imposed on passengers. This surcharge came to be added to the cost of air ticket due to increase in cost of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF). In November 2005, when a fuel surcharge of Rs 200 was introduced for the first time on domestic air tickets, the cost of ATF per kilo litre was Rs 35,761,'' says the petition. By August 2008, ATF price rose to Rs 75,102 and fuel surcharge went up to Rs 3,100. Though the fuel prices fell after that, the fuel surcharge remained high.
"The result is that when ATF was costing Rs 35,761 the fuel surcharge was Rs 200 and when the fuel prices were lower at Rs 32,691 recently the fuel surcharge continued to be Rs 2,700,'' says Reddy adding that airlines are also fraudulently evading taxes such as service tax etc by splitting the cost of ticket.
The petition which questions the raison d'etre of fuel surcharge also rakes up other issues related to this charge.
11/05/09 Manju V/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Indian Aviation- In General May 2009