DELHI
The government is preparing to charge air passengers up to Rs 10 for every ticket purchased to create a new regulator for civil aviation, including the salary of staff, in an unusual instance of consumers having to directly pay for the running of a government authority.
Civil aviation secretary KN Srivastava said the cost of creating and running the new regulator, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), is estimated to be around Rs 112 crore a year and one of the sources of its funding will be passengers. “We could charge Rs 5 to Rs 10, which are nominal amounts, but will add up to at least Rs 50 crore a year,” he told ET.
The Cabinet cleared the proposal to replace the current regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which has been hobbled by a serious staff shortage, with the CAA on Thursday. The draft legislation will be presented in the monsoon session of Parliament.
Full report here Economic Times
