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New Delhi, Feb. 12: Travel agents in the country have decided to move the Supreme Court seeking a review of its January 23 directive banning airlines from imposing transaction fee in any form.
Airlines introduced the fee after they adopted a zero commission policy for travel agents. Under the fee, agents can charge customers any sum of their choice and there is no uniformity. It can range from Rs 50 to Rs 200 on domestic tickets and Rs 400 to Rs 700 on international ones.
“We are an affected party of the court directives. We will petition the apex court for modifications in its directives and interim measures. We want a status quo ante,” the legal adviser for the Travel Agents Association of India, Bhupendra Singh Chauhan, said.
He said the petition is expected to be filed this week, adding that the court directives were open for interpretation.
The travel agents say banning the transaction fee, which forms the main chunk of their revenue, would be detrimental to the sector, which is already reeling under the impact of lowering of transaction fees by full-service carriers to one per cent from nine per cent in early 2000.
The associations have already held talks with civil aviation minister Ajit Singh and the tourism secretary, besides meeting Air India and Jet Airways management, Travel Agents Federation of India president Zubair Ahmad said.
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