Passengers queue up to enter Patna airport. Telegraph picture

Patna, Aug. 17: All is fine at Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport, or so it seems.

According to sources, airport officials have not penalised a single person for any offence as they were supposed to, according to a circular issued by the director of Patna airport on August 1 regarding flouting of regulations.

Officials at the airport confirmed that nobody was penalised for any of the 23 offences prescribed in the circular. “Although guidelines regarding imposition of penalty at Patna airport for 23 offences is in effect from August 1, we have not penalised anyone,” said a senior official at Patna airport.

In exercise of powers conferred upon Airports Authority of India vide AAI (Management of Airports) Regulations, 2003 published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-III, Section 4 on July 3, 2003, Patna airport director Arvind Dubey issued the circular on August 1. The circular was accompanied by an exhaustive list of 23 offences, which would attract fine from the defaulters.

Those found to be in an inebriated state on the airport premises would have to cough up Rs 100 as fine. The same amount would be imposed on those driving their vehicles at a speed more than 10kmph in the service area of the airport. Littering the premises would attract a fine of Rs 100. The same would be the case with those found guilty of misusing the passenger baggage trolleys.

The report published in The Telegraph on August 2, 2011

Anyone using language that is likely to cause offence/annoyance would attract a fine of Rs 100. The circular has also taken care of laxity on the part of operators and has provisions, which would attract penalties from operators as well. One example is imposing a fine of Rs 200 in case a vehicle/equipment is left unattended on the airside.

The Telegraph had reported about the circular on August 2.

A section of fliers believes that such circulars are of no use if they are not implemented properly.

“The fact that not a single person has been penalised against the prescribed offences in the first 15 days of such a circular indicates laxity in the implementation. It is because of lack of regulations at Patna airport that outsiders take a negative impression of the way things are being managed here,” said Suresh Prasad, a frequent flier from Patna.