The Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC) and Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) have separately voiced concern over the governments move to impose an additional 2 per cent levy on airfares to fund its regional connectivity plans within the country. The two bodies are also pushing for a transparent system to ensure fair usage of this extra surcharge.
Making their concerns known, the 108-year-old IMC likened it to how railway ministers have historically used budgetary allocation to run trains to their constituencies.
"We are averse to such a policy since their is no justification for a passenger flying on a certain sector subsidising passengers flying on another sector," IMC's aviation and airports committee chief Jitendra Bhargava said.
Members of the IMC, led by Dilip Piramal — who held deliberations on the country's first civil aviation policy for their feedback to the government — said that, if it was deemed imperative for the good of regional connectivity, money collected through a surcharge should be accounted for separately on a quarterly basis and made public.
02/01/16 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror
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Making their concerns known, the 108-year-old IMC likened it to how railway ministers have historically used budgetary allocation to run trains to their constituencies.
"We are averse to such a policy since their is no justification for a passenger flying on a certain sector subsidising passengers flying on another sector," IMC's aviation and airports committee chief Jitendra Bhargava said.
Members of the IMC, led by Dilip Piramal — who held deliberations on the country's first civil aviation policy for their feedback to the government — said that, if it was deemed imperative for the good of regional connectivity, money collected through a surcharge should be accounted for separately on a quarterly basis and made public.
02/01/16 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror
