Travel agents, airlines agree to set up committee

Mumbai, Aug 14 (UNI) The airlines and the travel agents associations have reached an agreement to set up a committee to find out a solution to their commission issue today.

''The airlines and associations have agreed to set up a committee in a meeting held this morning to find out solutions on legal and technical issues that need to be ironed out,'' Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Secretary General Shubhada Joshi, who runs her company in Pune, told UNI.

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,'' Ms Joshi added.

She also clarified that today's was the token strike and from tomorrow all the associations would start their work.

Travel agents across the country shut down their operations today to protest against the decision of the Airlines in the country of not extending the five per cent commission to them upto April next year.

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

Ms Joshi said that the zero per cent commission decision of airlines will affect the consumers, as they will have to compensate for the income of the travel agents.

They are 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.

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