Mangalore: Development Fee Unfair as Basic Amenities Lacking at New Terminal
Special Report
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Sep 19: The euphoria over the New Integrated Terminal Building (NITB) of Mangalore Airport becoming functional from August this year seems to be short lived especially for international passengers as they are force to shell out Rs. 825/- towards User Development Fee (UDF) levied by Airport Authority of India (AAI). The UDF has been implemented from 1st September, 2010 after the AAI got approval for the same from the Civil Aviation Ministry. Accordingly, each passenger boarding a domestic flight at Mangalore Airport will have to pay Rs. 150/- towards UDF whereas passengers flying international will have to pay Rs. 825/- per passenger.
The fee is inclusive of service tax and collection charges imposed by the airlines on passengers and are applicable to passengers only departing from Mangalore airport. The UDF fee will be collected for a period of 10 years.
As expected there is a hue and cry primarily from international fliers as they feel that Rs. 825/- per passenger is too excessive and will be a big burden on them. While many passengers are even ready to pay this fee even though they consider it is too exorbitant, they feel that the facilities made available to the passengers at the new terminal are not adequate and not worth the fee charged from the passengers as maintenance fee. While this is a matter of grave concern, many international passengers are facing the problem with regard to paying UDF as their tickets were booked much before September, this year.
Greatly perturbed by the imposition of this fee members of Kerala Pravasi Sangham this week had organized a protest march in front of the NITB demanding withdrawal of the UDF imposed on passengers or at least to reduce the to a reasonable level.
Though the respective airlines are to collect this fee from passengers at the time of issue of air tickets to avoid inconvenience to passengers and to enable air transport operations the plight of the passengers who are oblivious of this new levy are unprepared with necessary cash in Indian currency required to pay at the time of their departure. Many international travelers don’t carry extra Indian currency and when it comes to 3 to 4 family members travelling together, the cost comes to quite a sum. Abdul Salaam of Kasargod who flew to Dubai with his family recently says “I had a tough time paying nearly Rs. 5000/- for 5 members of my family as I had not carried much money with me thinking it may not be of much use in the Middle East. I could not go out to get the money from any ATM nearby as I had told the taxi driver to go back after dropping us at the airport. Luckily the driver was somewhere nearby and he had the cash and I was saved from an embarrassing and tricky situation”.
The matter is further compounded as the airport office does not accept credit card and ATM’s are not available anywhere within 2 kms radius of the airport. Airport Director of Mangalore Airport M R Vasudeva when contacted stated that there is an Exchange Counter inside the NITB and also a branch of Canara Bank inside the premises. “Information about UDF is made known to the public through all possible communication media. Despite this if the passengers say they were not aware and did not carry money I cannot do anything about it. We are ready to extend all possible help to passengers in whatever way we can”. About the non-availability of ATM within the airport premises he said “we have invited tenders to this effect and the facility will be made available once we complete the procedure”. About the high fees charged for international travelers Vasudeva said that the fee was fixed by the Civil Aviation Minister and not by the Airport at local level. But he promised to bring it to the notice of the concerned.
One of the officials of private airlines said that ever since the UDF has come into effect we have been facing problems even from domestic customers. “Everyday we have one or two customers who agitate and create commotion saying we are looting them. Somehow we pacify and convince them “, said a private airline official who did not wish to be quoted.
Many passengers and even airlines complain about lack of a proper restaurant inside the airport, a basic amenity which should have been provided to the passengers when they collect such a high user development fee. “There is a no restaurant and only a food stall is available which does not have seating facility for travelers to sit leisurely and eat something. Whenever there is a delay in the flight we have harrowing time of getting proper food for passengers as we have to go make food arrangements for the city which is time consuming”, one of the airline officials complained.
Joshua Alvares from Udupi, a frequent flier to the Middle East also pointed out the lack of food facilities at the NITB. “Very often we have to cope up with delays in flights which in itself are awful and lack of proper food or eating facilities adds to our frustration. By the time we sit in the flight we lose the enthusiasm and the energy required to sustain the long hours of journey”.
Though there is a provision of aerobridge at the NITB it is not yet functional and as a results passengers have to walk a long distance to catch the flight. This becomes quite messy especially during rainy season as many passengers do not carry umbrellas.
The NITB lacks even basic facilities like internet, STD/ISD facility and Post Office, which were available to the travelers at the Bajpe airport. STD/ISD is a basic facility which is a must as most passengers may not carry a mobile with local sim and in case they wish to make any important call it is just not possible. Passengers complain that drinking water is not easily available and there should be more provisions of drinking water facilities at the NITB. Security aspect is also adding to the despair of the passengers and the shortage of CISF personnel causes undue security delay.
According to Mangalore Airport officials the maintenance cost of the new terminal building is estimated at Rs. 75 lakh per month. It has also spent crores of money on building infrastructure and developing the new terminal building in the last 8 years. Now it has also undertaken the work of the other runway. No doubt all these developmental work needs money. But when the passengers are charged such hefty amount as user development fee, the airport authorities should ensure that proper facilities and comforts are provided for the passengers who pay through their nose. As Joshua Alvares points out may be the officials at the Mangalore Airport should have given priority for providing all these facilities before implementing the UDF. At least they could have justified the huge amount of fee they charge for international travelers.
Charging UDF without ensuring adequate facilities is tantamount to swindling the hapless passengers. It is the fervent hope of all those people who had dreamt big about the NITB that Mangalore Airport lives up to the international standards by ensuring suitable facilities.