'Skyrocketing' airfare, lack of tariff regulation dominate PAC meeting

NEW DELHI: Concerns over "skyrocketing" airfare and "little action" by government agencies and regulator dominated the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting on Wednesday as several MPs sought accountability from private airport operators and airlines to provide relief to passengers.

PAC Chairperson K C Venugopal described the meeting of the panel, which has witnessed fiery and at times acrimonious discussion along party lines in the past, as "one of the best" sittings.

Members, he said, expressed concerns that the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) "is not acting properly as a regulator".

"We need clear cut answers," he told PTI after the meeting.

He said the regulatory body could not answer adequately the questions raised by members.

The senior Congress MP said, "Concerns were raised by members that airfare is skyrocketing, and there is no action from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) or the Civil Aviation Department."

Sources said some MPs called for an amendment in the AERA Act to make it more effective in regulating fare amid general unhappiness over issues like "arbitrary" rise in user development fees and price surge, as they alleged that the existing system fell short of fixing accountability and transparency in the functioning of private operators.

"A few MPs were upset over the manner in which both aeronautical tariff and non-aeronautical tariff are decided and flagged the need for having a mechanism in place for prior consultation," a source said. An MP said there should be a quasi-judicial body to hear such issues.

Civil avitation secretary and AERA chairperson were among those who appeared before the panel in the meeting in which presentations were made on related issues.

While AERA is tasked with regulating tariff for services covering major airports, the DGCA is primarily concerned with safety issues.

Sources said the PAC members, in general, were unsatisfied with the replies of officials, and the panel has asked them to submit a detailed response.

Several members, sources said, gave examples of a few airports where the user development fee (UDF), which is included in the airfare, has gone up many times since they were handed over to private operators.

Some of them sought details from officials about the revenue collected under different heads and to what use they were put to. An MP, sources said, spoke about the real estate development and subsequent rentals collected by private operators at airports, and called for transparency and accountability for the revenue's appropriate use.

An MP lauded the government's UDAN scheme, which envisages air connectivity for smaller cities, but noted that many of its routes are either not served or not served adequately by private airlines as they focus on more profitable routes. It strikes a blow to the vision of having the common man to fly, he added.