Aviation ministry clears UDF charges for domestic passengers at new Hyderabad airport
19 Aug 2008
New Delhi: The ministry of civil aviation has allowed the GMR Group-run Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad to levy user development fees (UDF) on domestic passengers. Passengers will now pay a uniform rate of Rs375 for travelling to domestic destinations.
The ministry had initially requested the airport operator to put this charge on hold as rising prices were putting an increasing burden on passengers. The charge for international passengers has already been fixed at Rs1,000.
The GMR Group has said that the domestic levy would come in force sometime this month, very likely within a few days. The levy will be in addition to the passenger service fee (PSF) of Rs225 that passengers pay for security and airport infrastructure.
Of the PSF, Rs 70 goes to the airport developers.
Meanwhile, operators of the Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) have also submitted their UDF proposals to the aviation ministry last week. Reports suggest that the government may decide on their fees structure soon enough though it has plenty of time to arrive at a decision.
''UDF and PSF are not linked. UDF is part of the agreement on the basis of which developers incur capital expenditure. It is similar to paying for using a better toll road or other improved infrastructure. The clearing of the UDF of Rs 375 is not a new policy decision,'' aviation minister Praful Patel said.
''Airport developers also have to recover their investments and UDF has been an accepted as one of the method of doing that. The GMR Group had proposed two UDFs for domestic passengers - one for within Andhra and other for outside the state. We finally decided to allow a uniform fee of Rs375, inclusive taxes,'' a senior ministry official said.
