Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Tuesday ruled out any move to regulate air fares, saying the government only wants the system to be transparent. ‘No, we are not going to regulate air fares,’ he told reporters after meeting Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily here. ‘What we are trying to do is to make the system for deciding fares transparent. The public should know what the bucket system is and the range they have given should be reasonable.’
On rising air fares, Singh said the overall costs have gone up ‘tremendously’. Oil prices and airport charges, particularly of the new ones, are the factors responsible for the rise in air fares. ‘All those things have to be taken into account (while deciding on fares),’ he said.
On Kingfisher airlines, he said, ‘DGCA has made it very clear that in order to allow them to fly again, they have to satisfy their operational and financial plan.’ Asked whether the airline not flying would mean collateral damage to lenders and suppliers, he replied, ‘Yes.’
‘But DGCA’s concern is that there should be no safety problem. They should be able to adhere to the schedule given,’ he said adding the airlines has to pay its employees, oil companies and airport operators their dues. On his meeting with Moily, the Minister said he discussed according declared goods status to aviation turbine fuel, a move that would lead to a uniform central sales tax of 3-4 per cent against the present practice of local sales tax or VAT ranging up to 24 per cent. 'He (Moily) agreed to this,' he said.
Moily said his ministry was in agreement on giving declared goods status but the issue has to be decided by the Finance Ministry.
‘INVESTOR HELPLINE WON’T BE RESUMED’
Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot has said that there is no proposal to resume operations of Investor Helpline project, a grievance redressal portal.
‘...There is no proposal to resume assistance for the website,’ Pilot said in a written reply tabled in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had discontinued the Investor Helpline as it had created a new system in place. Investor Helpline, launched in 2006, was one of the first facilities which took up investor grievances – against companies and mutual funds – falling under three different regulators MCA, Sebi and RBI. In order to avoid duplication of work and also to save government funds, it was decided to discontinue the Investor Helpline project.
On rising air fares, Singh said the overall costs have gone up ‘tremendously’. Oil prices and airport charges, particularly of the new ones, are the factors responsible for the rise in air fares. ‘All those things have to be taken into account (while deciding on fares),’ he said.
On Kingfisher airlines, he said, ‘DGCA has made it very clear that in order to allow them to fly again, they have to satisfy their operational and financial plan.’ Asked whether the airline not flying would mean collateral damage to lenders and suppliers, he replied, ‘Yes.’
‘But DGCA’s concern is that there should be no safety problem. They should be able to adhere to the schedule given,’ he said adding the airlines has to pay its employees, oil companies and airport operators their dues. On his meeting with Moily, the Minister said he discussed according declared goods status to aviation turbine fuel, a move that would lead to a uniform central sales tax of 3-4 per cent against the present practice of local sales tax or VAT ranging up to 24 per cent. 'He (Moily) agreed to this,' he said.
Moily said his ministry was in agreement on giving declared goods status but the issue has to be decided by the Finance Ministry.
‘INVESTOR HELPLINE WON’T BE RESUMED’
Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot has said that there is no proposal to resume operations of Investor Helpline project, a grievance redressal portal.
‘...There is no proposal to resume assistance for the website,’ Pilot said in a written reply tabled in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had discontinued the Investor Helpline as it had created a new system in place. Investor Helpline, launched in 2006, was one of the first facilities which took up investor grievances – against companies and mutual funds – falling under three different regulators MCA, Sebi and RBI. In order to avoid duplication of work and also to save government funds, it was decided to discontinue the Investor Helpline project.