Draft Bill to replace DGCA ready

The law ministry had recommended that other financial models should be included in the draft, said the official. The original draft had proposed that CAA be made financially independent by imposing a Rs 12 levy of each passenger.

The idea was that CAA would be a no-profit,no-loss body with financial autonomy, the official said. The ministry has not got down to drawing an estimate of the annual expenses of the body and accordingly moot a financial model.

The budget of the body would be known after we ascertain its staff strength. We are undertaking a study to determine the financial requirements of CAA, the source said. One of the suggestions on board is levying an additional air navigation charge to spare the passengers of the burden of levy.

The proposed CAA would have three wings safety,economic regulatory and grievance resolution apart from a full-fledged environment wing. It would also have the power to recruit. Recently,Civil aviation minister,Ajit Singh,had reiterated the governments commitment to set up of such a body to address the concerns of the fast-growing sector.

An audit of the DGCA by US body FAA in 2010 revealed shortcomings in the existing set-up and so a proposal to set up a super regulator CAA was floated. One of the chief concerns is the shortage of technical staff in the regulator,most of which are on secondment from the industry.