PAYING no heed to directives issued by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), restaurants and snack bars at Pune airport continue to overcharge visitors for water, tea and coffee. In clear violation of the directives by airport authorities, specifying how much they can charge for water - Rs 10 for 500 ml and Rs 20 for 1 litre of water, Rs 20 for 150 ml of tea, and Rs 30 for 150 ml coffee, the outlets continue to sell these items at higher prices. In July 2017, Pune airport director Ajay Kumar had convened a meeting of all the concessionaire operators, and directed them to sell these basic items at ‘economical prices’, as directed by AAI headquarters. Minutes of the meeting, held on July 2, shows that representatives of six concessionaires — Lite Bite Foods, New Poona Bakery, Sai Balaji Food and Beverage, Sugardough run by Supra Foods, and outlets run by P K Hospitality and R B A Hospitality — had attended the meeting. As per records, Sugardough, the restaurant located in front of the terminal building run by Supra Foods, used to sell tea at Rs 30, coffee at Rs 40, a 1 litre water bottle at Rs 30 and 500 ml bottle at Rs 20. New Poona Bakery stall, inside the terminal building, sold tea and coffee at Rs 50 each, and 500 ml bottle at Rs 20. Snack Bar, run by P K Hospitality, sold tea at Rs 50 and coffee at Rs 70. A restaurant run by the same firm charged Rs 104 for tea and coffee, and Rs 50 for 500 ml water bottle. “The participants of the meeting were informed about the decision of the AAI headquarters, regarding provision of tea/coffee and water bottle at economical prices, and requested agencies to make available the above referred items at economical prices at their counters,” read the minutes of the meeting. As per the records, representatives of Sugardough, Sai Balaji Foods and Beverages and New Poona Bakery agreed to make mineral water available at the requested price (Rs 10 for 500 ml, Rs 20 for 1 litre), and sell tea at Rs 20 and coffee at Rs 30. Representatives of Lite Bite Foods, P K Hospitality and RBA Hospitality had sought a few days’ time to discuss the issue and convey their decision. Despite these assurances, nothing much seems to have changed on the ground. On Friday, Pune Newsline found that Sugardough continues to sell tea at Rs 30, coffee at Rs 40 and a 1 litre water bottle at Rs 30. The 500 ml bottle was not available. New Poona Bakery sells both tea and coffee at Rs 50 each. When the issue was raised with Assistant General Manager (Commercial) K Srinivas, he said he would sent a notice to the outlets violating the directives. “We had sent them the guidelines and also held a meeting. I have directed my subordinates to issue notice to Sugardough and New Poona Bakery for not following the directives of AAI,” said Srinivas. Sandesh Deshmukh, a flier, said that despite complaints to authorities about the outlets overcharging for basic items inside the airport, they had taken no action. “I had complained about this to an AAI officer. He told me that it’s an accepted fact that food items and beverages are sold at high prices at cinema halls and airports. Since the outlets pay a huge amount of rent to AAI, they are allowed to charge extra,” said Deshmukh. A staffer at one of these outlets revealed that the shop gave a sizeable discount on its food items to personnel of AAI, CISF and other government agencies. “The rates for public and government officials are different. For example, officials can get tea for Rs 10 while others will be charged Rs 30,” said the staffer.
