NEW DELHI: Grievances regarding unclean washrooms at major airports across the country dominate the total number of complaints, which also include those relating to rat menace, Lok Sabha was told on Monday.
37 or over half the 71 complaints by passengers, registered by airport operators between 2012 and November this year, relate to unclean washrooms and housekeeping, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said in reply to a written question.
Rodent menace, shortage of trolleys and insufficient pick and drop facilities were issues on which the other complaints were made by airport users, he said.
To another question, he said the government does not analyse the changes in air ticket cancellation charges levied by Indian carriers as air fares and such charges are not regulated by it.
"No analysis is done with regard to change in cancellation charges levied by scheduled domestic airlines ... Air fares including the cancellation charges are not regulated by the government," Sharma said.
Cancellation charges "vary from airline to airline depending on their different operating business models", he said.
About 80 complaints relating to refund of air fares were received by aviation regulator DGCA between January and October this year, Sharma said, adding that these were taken up for redressal with the airlines concerned.
"Majority of such complaints pertain to booking made through travel portals/travel agents, which are not regulated by DGCA," the Minister said.
The government's earnings from service tax pertaining to air travel have increased to Rs 2876.82 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 2531.58 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 1717.79 crore in 2011-12, he said.
The revenue through direct taxes collected by the government from airline companies was Rs 141.31 crore in 2012-13, Rs 276.02 crore in 2011-12 and Rs 190.22 crore in 2010-11, Sharma said. PTI