Airport operator DIAL gets arbitral award on revenue share payments to AAI

Delhi airport operator DIAL has won an arbitral award against Airports Authority of India (AAI) with respect to revenue share obligations during the coronavirus pandemic period.

Under the Operation, Management and Development Agreement (OMDA) for the Delhi airport, DIAL had invoked arbitration against the AAI seeking certain reliefs as eligible to it on account of the occurrence of force majeure event during the coronavirus pandemic period.

In a regulatory filing, GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd said an arbitral tribunal passed the award on January 6.

Mentioning about key aspects of the award, the company said DIAL has been "excused from making payment of Monthly Annual Fee (MAF) for the period from 19th March 2020 to 28th February 2022 due to existence of force majeure".

The amount of MAF paid by DIAL to AAI for the period March 2020 to December 2020 was ordered to be refunded along with interest, the filing submitted to the stock exchanges late Sunday said.

As per the filing, DIAL is also excused from making payment of MAF from January 2021 till February 2022.

"There shall be extension of the term of OMDA for 1 year and 11 months i.e., the period excused under force majeure. The award may be challenged, in which case DIAL will appropriately defend the matter," it said.

The filing did not disclose details about the amount involved in the arbitration award.

DIAL is a step down subsidiary of GMR Airports Infrastructure.

On Monday, shares of GMR Airports Infrastructure jumped 3.81 per cent to close at Rs 87.10 apiece on the NSE. It climbed 3.67 per cent to settle at Rs 86.99 apiece on the BSE.

Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service said the arbitral tribunal's decision to excuse DIAL from its revenue share obligations during the pandemic period is credit positive as the airport may otherwise require additional debt to make an immediate full payment.

"However, the Airports Authority of India can appeal the arbitration outcome. Other than this arbitration matter, improvement in Delhi airport's credit metrics over the near term will also depend on the successful completion of its expansion and the outcome of its regulated tariff reset scheduled to occur by the end of March 2024," Spencer Ng, Vice President and Senior Credit Officer at Moody's Investors Service, said in a statement on Monday.