The Civil Aviation ministry has rejected Mumbai airport operator MIAL's proposal to reduce the exempted hours for transit passengers at the airports so that user charges can be levied and collected from them.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha today, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said the proposal was rejected after examining it in consultation with stakeholders, including Airports Authority of India, Federation of Indian Airlines and other airport operators.
"Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) had sent a proposal to reduce the exempted hours for transiting passengers at airports from existing 24 hours to 6 hours for the purpose of levy and collection of user charges," Sharma said.
After consultations, it was decided to "retain the existing exemption in respect of transit passengers," he added.
At present, transit passengers don't pay the charges and fees at the particular airport they are transiting from if their connecting flight is within 24 hours of their arrival.
MIAL, a joint venture company between Airports Authority of India (AAI) and diversified GVK group, which operates the Mumbai airports, had reportedly requested the ministry to cut down the exempted time to six hours.
