BIRATNAGAR/KATHMANDU, Sept 15: Staffers of travel agencies and even security personnel have been found overcharging passengers for air tickets.
Though normal airfare for Biratnagar-Kathmandu flight is Rs 6,495, passengers are being charged Rs 1,000 extra. Also, they are not getting cheaper fares which start from Rs 4,365.Due to transport obstruction in different Tarai districts, many people are turning to air service to travel to Kathmandu. To cash in on the surge of air passengers, airline companies have added extra flights. These extra flights should have benefited passengers. But fact is; they are being cheated. Republica correspondent in Biratnagar found staffers of various Biratnagar-based travel agencies and every security personnel deployed at the airport overcharging passengers for tickets.
Three youths from Sunsari, who were flying to a foreign country on Sunday, had to reach Kathmandu by last Friday. When they reached Biratnagar Airport on Friday, they couldn't get any ticket to fly to Kathmandu. However, a security person in uniform told them that they could get ticket by paying Rs 1,000 extra. As they had no other option, the three youth paid Rs 1,000 extra per ticket to fly to Kathmandu. Two of them got tickets in a chartered flight, while one flew to Kathmandu in a scheduled flight. The anomaly came to light when the chartered flight got cancelled.
"Two passengers, who came for a refund at our counter, demanded that we pay them Rs 7,500. We were surprised because we had charged Rs 6,495 only," a Biratnagar-based official of an airline told Republica. "Later we came to know that they had paid Rs 1,005 extra per ticket."
He also said the security person had to refund Rs 1,005 each to the passengers later on.
This is just an example. The black-marketing of flight tickets has increased mainly in Biratnagar and Bhadrapur where the airlines have added additional flights.
Bhim Raj Rai, media manager of Yeti Airlines, said his company was operating one or two chartered flights to Biratnagar and Bhadrapur on a daily basis depending on the traffic. "We are charging only normal fare, which is Rs 6,495, for our chartered flights," Rai said, adding that had also been providing cheaper fare to those booking tickets in time.
A representative of Yeti Airlines at Biratnagar airport said some people were trying to take undue advantage of the company's benevolence. "We provide few tickets to people, who we know personally, on their request. However, we have found staffers of travel agencies and even security people taking undue advantage," the representative said, acknowledging that black-marketing of tickets is on the rise as there is very high demand for air seats.
Around 800 passengers are flying to and from Biratnagar daily. At present, Yeti Airlines and Buddha Air are operating four flights each a day while, Sourya Air if flying two times a day. Despite this, around 200 passengers are not getting tickets.
"Staffers of travel agencies can be seen bargaining with hapless passengers even inside the terminal hall. They take tickets from airlines' counter and sell them at higher price to the passengers," a source at Biratnagar Airport said.
Govt forms panel to study fare for chartered flights
Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has formed a six-member committee to fix the upper and lower limit for fare on chartered flights.
The committee led by Joint Secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane has been asked to submit report by November 1.
Pramod Nepal, member secretary of the committee, said the panel has been asked to study fare being charged by airline companies for chartered flights and to control arbitrary fixation of fares when demand increases.
"We have been receiving complaints from various quarters that airline companies are overcharging customers for chartered flights. The issue has been raised by even the lawmakers," Nepal said, adding, "Though we cannot fix the fare, we will recommend the upper and lower limit that airline companies can charge for chartered flights."
At present, the upper limit for fare is fixed only for airlines operating scheduled flights.
Related story
300,000 security personnel to be mobilized during Nov 20 Nepal...
