Sindhu Bhattacharya

New Delhi: For the first time in Indian aviation history, new airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore are being asked to pay for federal services such as customs.

Customs is a sovereign function and no airport developer has had to pay for it in the past. But, this may be because a majority of all airports operational in the country have been developed by the state-owned Airports Authority of India.

Today, new airports are being developed by private operators and many new airports are coming up across the country.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is seeking payment of salaries for its staff to be deployed at the new airport as well as expenses on fittings and fixtures, housing and transport for these people.

As per existing policy, no airport operator is permitted to conduct certain operations (including security of the airport, customs and immigration) on its own so it has no choice but to approach the designated central agency for the purpose.

The demand for availing these sovereign facilities on payment is a tad embarrassing for the civil aviation ministry, which is keen to see the new airports come up.

The ministry lodged a strong protest after CBEC, which comes under the ministry of finance, issued a circular demanding payment for customs services at all new airports on a “cost recovery” basis.

“Customs is a sovereign function, so why should any operator be asked to pay? Anyway, why should operations in the new airport be held up because of this?” asked a top aviation ministry official. All the same, the developer for the Hyderabad airport has since agreed to pay for customs “under protest.”

And now, the same issue has cropped up for the Bangalore airport,which is slated to open later this month. The developer has no option but to agree with the CBEC demand.

Source : DNA