The Airport Development Fees (ADF) collected from passengers was “a little unreasonable,” the Supreme Court said on Friday, and suggested that VIPs be charged like in abroad for use of special lounges instead of burdening common travellers.
“You are a little unreasonable to passengers. In many airports (abroad) such a huge amount of fee is charged for VIP rooms. In London, they charge 400 pounds per passenger for a small room in VIP lounge, why can’t you reciprocate here,” a bench comprising justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur said.
“Instead of burdening our passengers, can we also not charge such fees, particularly in the peak seasons in vacations when VIP travellers are visiting from foreign. If we have to pay in pounds in London, why can’t they pay in rupees here,” it said.
The bench made the remarks during the hearing of the petition by an NGO challenging the levying of ADF of Rs 200 and Rs 1,300 per embarking domestic and international passengers at the New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
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