Our Faith is completely shaken

Airline commissions have gone down to almost zero, but IATA fees have multiplied almost seven times. Does the IATA membership benefit agents enough to renew it every year? Tarun Malhotra, Director of InORBIT TOURS, shares his view.

In the current situation, most of us have cut down salaries of our own staff who have been with us for more than a decade. On the other hand, we are forced to pay IATA fees even this year so that they do not have pay cuts. We should be proud of ourselves as Indian travel fraternity under the able leaders of various associations. The IATA fee 20 years ago was less than US$ 100 when the agency commission was around 13 per cent. Today, the IATA fee is US$ 765 while commission to agent is ZERO. What a progress by 97 travel trade associations!

IATA has always been pro-airline and this is widely accepted by all associations across India. There is very little or no trust in our associations. Most of these associations charge Rs 7,000 per member. IATA charges US$ 360 per licence and another US$ 385 for enhanced programme for easing refunds. This brings it to a total of almost Rs 55,000 being paid to IATA. This amounts to almost Rs 20 crore paid by the Indian travel agents, which the above associations conveniently ignore or have accepted. Imagine if no travel agent renews their membership? What is the maximum IATA can do? It will be forced to wind up or cooperate with the travel agents. Why doesn’t IATA force any airline to give refunds?

Benefits of IATA?

Apart from it being a payment platform linking payment of agents to airlines, BSP and refunds, there seems to be no other benefit of IATA. If any agent goes bankrupt or shuts shop due to the current pandemic, will IATA refund the fees paid as we agents have not been serviced by IATA this year?

We strongly feel that IATA should carry forward the fees paid for 2020 to 2021 with no additional cost. This is the least we can expect from IATA in troubled times such as this, as well as to reduce their fees for the future and make it uniform.

We are not a member of any association anymore. They don’t even bother as to why their members are quitting their association. It is time for them to introspect and find a solution.

Join the movement

Tarun Malhotra, along with Jyoti Singh, has started a Whatsapp Group called ‘IATA?’ to raise this issue.