Expert committee to look into transaction fee issue

Mumbai, Aug 14 (UNI) Indian carriers and travel agents, on war path against the zero commission, today found a way out to the solution with Airlines, indicating their willingness to include transaction fee on the tickets.

Travel Agents across the country closed their operations to express their protest over the Airlines stand in not resolving the impasse arising out of the withdrawal of five per cent commission now extended till November 1.

Even as the bandh by the travel agents was on, the representatives met officials of the Airlines here and it was agreed to set up a committee to look into the legal and technical aspects of including transfaction fee on air tickets, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) president C V Prasad said in a statement here after the meeting.

He said the Committee of experts would meet on August 2 to come out with recommendations to clear the doubts raised by Airlines on technical and legal bottlenecks in including transaction fee on the tickets.

Apart from TAAI, Travel Agents Federation of India, Iata Agents Association of India, Air India, Kingfisher airlines and Jet airways representatives attended the meeting.

''We are expecting the solution by first week of September,'' TAAI Secretary General Ms Subhadha Joshi told UNI.

Over 50,000 travel agents, who generally issue two lakh air tickets per day, have participated in the strike.

The Travel agents were demanding that the five per cent commission should be extended till April next year and include transaction fee along with the fare then onwards. This would avoid confusion in the mind of air travellers that they were being burdened additionally.

Travel Agents account for more than 95 per cent of the ticketing of airlines across the country with a monthly turnover estimated at around Rs 2,400 crore.

UNI VK/JM OBB LPB NS1937