Lok Sabha Question No. 3024 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-17
Subject: Air India Dues
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: RAMSINH PATALYABHAI RATHWA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 3024 (To be answered on the December 2015) 17th

## AIR INDIA DUES

## 3024. SHRI RAMSINH RATHWA

Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

.

be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether a number of travel agents had reportedly duped Air India of crores of rupees during the last two years;
- (b) if s0, the details thereof indicating the names of travel agents and amount involved therein and the action taken thereon; and

.

- (c) the steps taken or proposed to be taken the Government to avoid such incidents in future and also to recover Air India dues from such travel agents? by

## ANSWER

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION

(a) Madam\_ Yes,

- (b): The details of outstanding dues from such agents and the status 0f dues are attached as Annexure A\_ Air India has undertaken recovery process with these agents through IATA BSP Insurance/Bank Guarantee Coverage (International Air Transport Association- Billing and Settlement Plan) and through litigation In some cases, FIR has been filed against defaulting agents.
- (c): Steps taken to recover money from defaulting agents and to avoid occurrence of such incidents in future are as follows:
- I Immediate Action initiated against Defaulting Agents:
- 1) The defaulting agency's ticket capping on Air India is reduced to zero ii) The agent's access to Air India reservation system and to Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) is blocked in order to deny the agent from processing any refund of the tickets.

(Dr Mahesh Sharma)

- iii) Subsequently,\_the Agent also terminated from IATA BSP\_ (International Air Transport Association- Billing and Settlement Plan) gets

## II. Action taken to recover outstanding dues

' `

- 1) IATA BSP is informed to invoke the Financial Insurance coverage:
2. iii) Legal action is initiated against the agents In some cases FIR is filed along with civil suit against the agent for recovery of outstanding dues.
3. ii) Regular visit by Air India team to the agency to impress upon them to make the payment due to Air India: good

In addition to the above; the capping levels of agents are regularly monitored by Air India and following action is initiated to avoid such instances in future:

- i) The regional offices have been informed to be cautious and vigilant with regard to the over trading limits assigned to the agents as per the current policy.
2. iii) After discussion with representatives of various regions certain changes have been made in the existing capping policy which was reviewed in March 2015:
3. ii) Due diligence of all agents who are allowed to overtrade is done at the regional level. In case of any market information about the vulnerability of agents, their capping is restricted and are not allowed t0 overtrade. being they

.

``

| Agent Name                                                 | Station                                                    | Total defauit Amount on BSP (All Airlines)                 | Total default AmounjAmount Recovered                       |                                                            | Total unrecovered amount on Air India                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
| AIRZIP HOLIDAYS                                            | Bhubaneswar                                                |                                                            | 4,319,257                                                  |                                                            | 4,319,257                                                  |
| I-Nova Aviation Services                                   | Kolkata                                                    | 4,310,830                                                  | 187,994                                                    |                                                            | 187994                                                     |
| Amar Air Travels                                           | Vadodara                                                   | 4,100,683                                                  | 517,587                                                    |                                                            | 517587                                                     |
| Global Passages Pvt Ltd                                    | Delhi                                                      | 2,750,985                                                  | 194,169                                                    |                                                            | 194169                                                     |
| DOLPHIN TRAVELA P. LTD                                     | Delhi                                                      | 48,241,558                                                 | 9,657,757                                                  | 3,200,000                                                  | 6,457,757                                                  |
| SHREE SATI TRAVELS PVT. LTD_                               | Mumbai                                                     | 238,819,953                                                | 99,883,785                                                 |                                                            | 99883785                                                   |
| Aerojet Travel Services                                    | Delhi & Bengaluru                                          | 616,103,872                                                | 596,899,406                                                | 224,700,000                                                | 372,199,406                                                |
| Total 2013-2014                                            |                                                            | 1,041,240,785                                              | 711,659,955                                                | 227,900,000                                                | 483,759,955                                                |
| BSP Defaults 2014-2015 (1st April 2014-to 31st March 2015) | BSP Defaults 2014-2015 (1st April 2014-to 31st March 2015) | BSP Defaults 2014-2015 (1st April 2014-to 31st March 2015) | BSP Defaults 2014-2015 (1st April 2014-to 31st March 2015) | BSP Defaults 2014-2015 (1st April 2014-to 31st March 2015) | BSP Defaults 2014-2015 (1st April 2014-to 31st March 2015) |
| Airworth Travels                                           | Delhi                                                      | 251,857,272                                                | 144,909,285                                                | 69,830,663                                                 | 75,078,622                                                 |
| Jewria Service Club                                        | Mumbai                                                     | 856,033                                                    | 164,680                                                    |                                                            | 164,680                                                    |
|                                                            | Thiruvananthpuram                                          | 801,135                                                    | 109,092                                                    |                                                            | 109,092                                                    |
| Kshitj Travels                                             | Rourkela                                                   | 961,387                                                    | 110,797                                                    |                                                            | 110,797                                                    |
| Facilities                                                 | Indore                                                     | 25,505                                                     | 24,380                                                     |                                                            | 24,380                                                     |
| Total 2014-2015                                            |                                                            | 254,501,332                                                | 145,318,234                                                | 69,830,663                                                 | 75,487,571                                                 |