Seven-minute norm and Rs 85 penalty at Pune airport to be waived off
As per an order issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Pune Airport administration has now decided to waive off the rule, which started in December 2015.
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Pune Airport (Express Photo)
THOSE WAITING at the drop-off and pick-up areas of the Pune Airport for more than seven minutes will no longer be required to pay Rs 85 as penalty.
As per an order issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Pune Airport administration has now decided to waive off the rule, which started in December 2015. However, according to airport authorities, it may take about a fortnight for the new rules to become effective as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is required to invite tenders to appoint a new parking contractor to put in place a new system.
After receiving complaints from passengers and aviation activists about the “unjust” rule, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha intervened in the matter during a recent visit to Pune Airport and promised that the city airport will get an exemption from the rule.
Ajay Kumar, Airport Director, said that the airport administration has received a copy of the decision taken by the AAI that the rule will be waived off. “The decision to do away with the rule was taken by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation when he had visited the Pune Airport. We have now received a copy of the decision and we will implement it,” he said.
Kumar added that it might take a fortnight for them to bring the new system in place.
“We will invite a new tender. The contract, which is currently on, is a composite one that looks into taking care of parking no 2 and 3, and implements the seven-minute rule. Now, a fresh tender will be invited only for parking lots. It might take 15 days for us to implement the new system,” said Kumar.
Officials with the AAI said that although the rule will be done away with, it’s not clear how the traffic congestion will be dealt with in the narrow pick-up and drop areas.
“The airport has a building front of 150 metre and can facilitate bumper-to-bumper only 35 cars. However, the actual number of vehicles that turn up is much more. If the cars that enter don’t move out, then how will new vehicles come in? So the rule was designed to solve this problem. But since the flyers were not happy about it, it has been revoked,” an official who didn’t wish to be named said.
Kiran Satale, a frequent flier, said the rule was used by the parking contractors to extort money. “I took cabs to reach the airport or on the way back to the city and was invariably charged additional Rs 85 by drivers saying they have to pay the extra amount, ” said Satale.
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