The private airport operators in Delhi and Mumbai have decided to ask the sector regulator, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), for extension of time period for collection of airport development fee (ADF). The move comes after the Delhi High Court asked the companies to stop collecting the fees.
A Delhi International Airport (DIAL) official said the company was losing about R2 crore daily due to the court stay and, therefore, needed to be compensated once the regulator finalised the quantum of fee and its duration.
The GMR group-led DIAL is operating and managing the Capital’s Indira Gandhi International airport, while the Mumbai airport is operated by GVK-backed Mumbai International Airport (MIAL).
?The court stay will result in an extended period for collecting the ADF. We have submitted our project cost to AERA and expect the regulator to quantify the new rate and the time period for which it would be collected,? a DIAL official said.
The official added that the company had lost R477 crore in 2010-11 and could further lose in absence of a clear policy guideline on recovery of investment and a reasonable return on it.
Hearing a petition by the Consumer Online Foundation and the Resources of Aviation Redressal Association (ROAR), the Delhi High Court last week directed the Delhi airport to stop collecting ADF. It also asked the petitioners to approach the airport regulator within two weeks. The court has directed AERA to decide on the issue within 45 days.
Before the court order, DIAL was collecting R200 from each departing domestic passenger and R1,300 from international passengers as ADF to make up for the revenue shortfall in project development. The airport company has invested about R12,800 crore in modernising the Delhi airport.
The Supreme Court had in April directed MIAL to stop levying passenger fee in absence of any permission from AERA. MIAL used to collect R100 from domestic passenger and R600 from outgoing international passenger.