Today - May 2010
Breaking News …. “Trivandrum airport to charge user-fee on foreign fliers”
Flash News …. “Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) clears user fee on international passengers flying out of Trivandrum”
Just In … “Trivandrum airport to collect users fee on international passengers”
Reaction … “Kerala objects to "User Fee " in airport”
Welfare move & Associations react ... “NRI body slams move to charge User Fee at Trivandrum airport”
The truth as on date …. “The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has permitted an ad-hoc user development fee (UDF) of Indian Rupees 755 on every international passenger flying out of the Trivandrum International Airport for a period of 10 years”
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When I write this : I am not sure, whether this User’s Fee would be implemented at Trivandrum International Airport, considering the protests and appeals that are being made against the same. Personally, I hope that Government of India, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in particular, would accord adequate importance to the pleas put forward by relevant authorities and forego the establishment of User’s Fee.
The below narration is written under the assumption that User’s Fee would be implemented and made applicable to international passengers very soon, God forbid!
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Forward – June 2010
Prakash returned home from work that day happier than ever. After lot of discussions and negotiations, he could manage to get his annual leave approved. He was excited, for, he would be spending Onam (Keralite festival) with his parents after a long gap of four years. He never ever got an opportunity to avail his annual leave during Onam, because, he was not as smart as some of his Keralite colleagues who used to grab the Onam opportunity before him! As simple as that !
At the apex of exhilaration, he proudly took out the air ticket jacket to his wife and children, to display his victory moment.
“In spite of heavy holiday rush, I managed to get tickets in the direct flight from Bahrain to Trivandrum”, Prakash told his wife, who also ran through the Gulf Air itinerary print-out.
“For the first time ever, we can have a good nap in flight. I hate stop-overs, especially during very early hours and hence, this direct flight option while coming back would be wonderful”, Prakash’s wife joined the conversation, manifesting her happiness.
“But…” , Prakash stammered, and then continued. “But, we are returning by Bahrain Air”.
“What? Bahrain Air? Do they have direct flights to Bahrain from Trivandrum?”
“No, well, we would be travelling by train to Cochin to catch our return flight”, Prakash clarified.
“Trivandrum Airport is just four kilometers from our house and you want to travel all the way to Cochin to save this User’s Fee? Are you mad, Prakash? , the wife repeated her life-long doubt which she had been carrying for some time now.
“I am not mad. Aren’t you reading newspapers? You know, Trivandrum Airport will charge Users’ Fee for all international passengers by the time we return. It is Rs. 755 per passenger. I am against this User's Fee business. Five of us, travelling back would drain a big money out of my pocket. So, travelling from Cochin would be economical and we can reach Cochin by train or by road. Its just a matter of few hours and still we can save money”. Prakash tried to justify and convince his wife, but in vain, as the latter's concern was the potential uneasiness she would face if they travel by train or by road to reach Cochin Airport to catch the flight to Bahrain, wasting the entire eve and sleep a night before!
The argument continued – but neither economics factor nor comfort factor could change any decisions made, as the tickets were already procured!
Fast Forward – August 2010
After spending a full-fledged vacation, Prakash and family hesitantly packed their bags for their return trip. The children did not want to come back at all, as they enjoyed company of their ‘newly acquired’ friends in Kerala. They were dropped at Trivandrum Railway Station to catch the night train to Cochin, their destination, five hours away. The train left the origin at the slated time, on dot.
Prakash proudly looked at his wife and showed some calculations, and explained how, and how much he saved, and also as to how he managed to escape from paying the Users’ Fee at Trivandrum Airport. Still, his wife was not convinced as the journey, to be honest, was quite uncomfortable, hopping with kids and other related paraphernalia !!
Two hours into the journey, past midnight, the train came to a sudden halt. The point where the train stopped was neither a station nor any known place. It was pitch dark and hence, the exact location could not be ascertained!
No man’s land! The passengers got out of their sleep and enquired to each other, as to why the train had stopped. Typical guess works were exchanged by one another, by default.
“May be, some accident somewhere”
“May be, some signal problem”
“May be, some train crossing”
“May be, some problem to our train”
A plethora of “may be’s” were discussed, but none knew the truth. After a while, the train’s guard came and informed the passengers about derailment of a goods train three stops ahead of their present point blocking both the tracks, thereby resulting in a tentative delay of onward journey for at least, five hours.
Bad luck!
For Prakash, a delay of five hours could cost a fortune!
In minutes, though reluctantly, Prakash, his wife, two children, their nanny and their numerous baggage were literally standing on no man’s land.
Some baggage in hand, some baggage on head, some baggage pulled, some baggage pushed, some baggage dragged – the ill-fated passengers, who could not afford the delay of five hours, got out of the train and rushed to the nearest road visible. Being past midnight, and the locality being remote, neither public transport nor taxies were available.
After a wait of nearly an hour, they could spot and stop a private car passing by the eerie road! On frantic requests, the person who was at the wheels agreed to drop them at Cochin Airport, which was quite far, at a premium price. Finally, the exploitation was settled for a hefty, Rs. 4000, much-much more than the User’s Fee which Prakash would have paid if he had avoided this train journey !!!
The car, which was not suited to carry six passengers with heavy baggage, or to have an unexpected long trip to Cochin, showed up its own casualty enroute, delaying the journey further!
Finally, they reached Cochin Airport one hour after the closing of check-in counter of Bahrain Air flight. Prakash virtually begged the check-in agent for letting them in, but to no avail. Tickets had to be re-booked for the next day’s flight by paying some additional charges.
Prakash, recalculated the unwanted costs incurred for train, private car, ticket rebooking, hotel expense in Cochin.
Prakash lost it!
Prakash lost it completely!
He scribbled – “User’s Fee” and changed the wording to “Loser’s Fee”!
© Renjith P Sarada 2010. All Rights Reserved.
