Air travellers may be charged for security, customs

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Saturday , May 10, 2008 at 0127 hrs Passengers flying in or out of the country’s new private airports will have to pay for security, customs clearance, cargo handling and surveillance. That’s because the government wants the airport developers to foot the bill for these services, which are provided free at other airports.

The plan will hit the new Hyderabad and Bangalore airports first as these services are already in place at Delhi and Mumbai and so the status cannot be changed. According to sources, the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) has already written to the civil aviation ministry as well as the developers of the Bangalore and Hyderabad airports asking them to pay for its services. CBEC provides customs & excise duties at airports.

“The department of customs & excise has issued an order that all new airports have to pay for resources deployed relating to customs & excise on a cost-recovery basis for all operations,” civil aviation ministry sources said.

For the Hyderabad airport, these charges work out to about 10% of its annual earnings. The new private airports are expected to pass the additional costs on to their passengers. The costs will include expenses for housing, transport, fittings & furnishings for offices and salaries for all the staff deployed.

The plan will impact cargo operations significantly at these airports, since cargo operations need substantial customs & excise resources.

Government sources said a similar demand is expected from agencies like the Central Industrial Security Force for the security services they provide.

Yet, developers are unlikely to protest the higher costs. “They have asked us to pay for the customs & excise jobs and we have agreed to pay as not doing so would only create more problems,” an official with the greenfield Hyderabad airport said.

However, the civil aviation ministry is willing to step in. A ministry official said, “The airports themselves have protested this order as customs & excise is a sovereign function of the government of India and is required by law. Asking the airports to pay for it is a little unfair and we will take it up with the finance ministry and CBEC separately.”