Hike necessary to compensate in security fees as passenger number
dwindles.
The government has
raised the fees to be paid by passengers for security at airports to Rs 160
from Rs 150, effective September 1.
The increase in
fees is required to meet increasing cost of security expenses at airports.
"In exercise of power conferred under Rule 88A of the Aircraft Rules,
1937, the central government has accorded approval for levy of revised Aviation
Security Fee (ASF) rates on air tickets issued with effect from 1st
September, 2020, " said an order issued by Ministry of Civil Aviation on
13 August.
The last hike was
in 2019, when the fees were increased by Rs 20 to Rs 150 from Rs 130.
Airport operators
had said the ASF of Rs 130 fixed several years ago was inadequate to meet the
expenses of CISF deployment.
In similar to
increase in security fees for domestic flights, international flyers, starting
from September 1, will be charged aviation security fee of $5.20. At present,
an international passenger pays a fee of $4.85.
The levy is used
for meeting cost of security set up at airports and is collected by airlines
including it in the ticket price.
A government
official explained reason behind the hike was to pay fees to Central
Industrial Security Force (CISF), which provides security deployment at 61
airports and faced increasing cost as passenger footfall dwindled at airports
following the outbreak of coronavirus.
The cost of CISF
has also increased as the force had to take additional precautions like PPE
suits, masks, gloves as the personnel are in close contact with air passengers.
"The cost of
maintaining security doesn't decrease even if passenger footfall is low. Same
vigilance, technology have to be maintained irrespective of low or high
traffic," explained a CISF official.
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