No transaction fee on air passengers: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the airlines operating in the country could not levy transaction fee on air passengers in any form and that the same should not be collected under any other name.

A Bench comprising Justice D K Jain and Justice Madan B Lokur, in the process, directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to examine the tariff structure of the airlines in view of their wide range of base prices for air tickets.

“There is lack of transparency as far as passengers are concerned and the poor passengers do not know what is happening,” the Bench remarked, referring to the transaction fee being levied. There are several bands for fixing the base price which in certain cases ranges from Rs1,120 to Rs 36,000...We are of prima facie view that regarding wide range of basic fare it would be necessary for the DGCA to examine the tariff structure of the airlines, the Bench said.

The Bench came down on the DGCA for not enforcing its own directive contained in its circular dated December 17, 2012, wherein it had restrained the airlines from charging transaction fee on the passengers. We regret to note that despite the circular not to charge transaction fee, the DGCA failed to enforce its own directive, the Bench said.Therefore, it needs our immediate intervention in view of the non-compliance of the DGCA directive. We are of the view that the circular of the DGCA dated December 17, 2012 is still in vogue and transaction fee cannot be charged by the airlines, the Bench said.

When senior counsel U U Lalit, appearing for the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), urged the apex court not to pass any order as it would challenge the DGCA circular before an appropriate authority, the Bench said: “We cannot shut our eyes that the circular is being violated and that the DGCA is not able to enforce it.”