NEW DELHI: Airlines can’t charge any additional fee for issuing a boarding pass at check-in counters in airports, the aviation ministry said in an advisory on Thursday. Currently, airlines charge about Rs 200 as fees if a passenger seeks a boarding pass at the check-in counter.
“It has come to the notice of the Ministry of Civil Aviation that airlines are charging additional amounts from passengers for issuing boarding passes at check-in counters. Such additional amount is not in accordance with the instructions given in the aforesaid order or as per the extant provisions of Aircraft Rules, 1937,” the advisory said.
This move is likely to bring relief to passengers who for some reason fail to do web check-ins or use kiosks at the airports. According to a senior executive at an airline, this kind of diktat is not a very welcoming move as they have to deploy people/persons specifically for issuing boarding passes, hence charging for this service should not be called anti-consumer practice.
“This move, moreover, may discourage people to be fully ready for their flight by opting for free-of-cost web check-in service. It may also lead to long queues at the boarding pass counter and increase the workload of airlines’ staff,” he said. The advisory is issued at a time when air tickets have seen a drastic rise amid a record rise in jet fuel prices.
Airfare is most busy routes is up by nearly 50% in the last year and this has now started weighing on general passengers’ ability to book a flight ticket. “The government should now provide relief to airlines by reducing taxes on ATF. They should also remove the fare bands (currently applicable on a 15-day rolling basis), which have been in place since the onset of the pandemic in different forms,” the official said.