Imposition of airport development fee is proper: Delhi High Court
26 Aug 2009
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest petition challenging the collection of Airport Development Fee (ADF) from passengers departing from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
A division bench comprising chief justice Ajit Prakash Shah and justice Manmohan, dismissing the petition, said, "We find no irregularities attached to the imposition of ADF, therefore the petition is dismissed."
The court stated that the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had a right to charge ADF from passengers if it was expected to carry out airport functions for the welfare of passengers.
The bench had reserved its order last week after hearing arguments from the Airports Authority of India, Delhi International Authority Ltd (DIAL) and Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).
The petition had challenged the imposition of ADF of Rs200 on all outgoing domestic passengers and Rs1,300 on international passengers. These levies had come into effect from 1 March 2009.
The petition stated that the money being charged for airport development work was "placing undue burden on travelling public." It also argued that no extra facility or value was being offered to passengers by DIAL in lieu of the ADF it was collecting.
A government order in March allowed all airlines flying out of Delhi to collect a development fee from the passengers while issuing tickets.
