Opposition to planned airport ‘cleanliness tax’
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India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is facing opposition with regards to its plans to impose a ‘cleanliness tax’ on air passengers.
The Air Passenger Association of India (APAI) is reported to have written a letter to the country’s Civil Aviation Minister, Ashok Gajapathy Raju, stating its objections to the tax. Proceeds from the small levy would be used to clean up the country’s airports.
“We strongly believe that a small amount of INR10 or INR15 or INR25 (approximately 16, 24, or 40 US cents) may be asked to be collected by all the operational airports in the country as an additional surcharge in the passenger service fee component,” APAI president D Sudhakar Reddy wrote in the letter, as reported by the Economic Times.
“This amount will run into several crore (tens of millions of rupees) and can be collected without causing any pain or inconvenience to any of the passengers,” he added.
Reddy went on to question whether it was fair to impose yet another financial requirement on India’s airlines “when they are struggling for their own existence”.
Nahendra Modi’s new government is planning to clean up India’s transport network. As well as the air passenger ‘cleanliness tax’, the ruling party has also pledged to modernise and clean up the country’s railway stations.
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