CAAN appeals to IATA in tourism service charge dispute

 

KATHMANDU, Oct 21: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is going to send a letter to the International Airlines Transport Association (IATA) to cancel the service fee collected by the Tourism Board from foreign tourists leaving Nepal.

'When any country imposes or increases taxes, fees, such details should be mentioned in IATA's system,' said Gyanendra Bhul, information officer of the Civil Aviation Authority, 'However, the tourism board has been collecting such service charges for 16/17 years without coming to  IATA's knowledge.'

Since Nepal Airlines as a member of IATA in Nepal, the authority has corresponded through that airline.

At present, the tourism board is charging 1000 rupees as service fee from foreigners leaving Nepal. It is not only now that the board has started collecting funds in this way.

When the board was formed in 2053, to ensure its operation, it was arranged that the board would receive two percent of the amount paid by tourists to the hotel through the government initiative. The Tourism Board Act 2053 also provides that the Tourism Board can charge service fees.

However, even with this arrangement, since the board had no income, it was arranged to collect 500 rupees from the passengers leaving the airport.

Such a provision was made in the Financial Act to be introduced with the budget in 2063.
 

However, the provision made by this Act has not been continued even in 2065/66 and the board has objected to the fact that it is collecting such fees by making its own procedures.

However, the board has been collecting service fees from tourists since 2066 according to the ministerial decision.

'The government has given the board the right to collect service fees from foreign tourists,' said Dhananjay Regmi, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the board, 'the board is collecting money from tourists according to the regulations and the economic act.'

In 2066, the meeting of the Council of Ministers directed the Tourism Board to make a regulation with the provision that such service fee should be mentioned in the air ticket.

However, the board is collecting the fee by approving the procedure from its own executive committee. Since then, this fee has been increased to Rs. While the regulations must be approved by the Council of Ministers meeting, the procedure does not require such approval.

Information Officer Bhul said that this is illegal because such a provision has been made in the procedure instead of the regulation. He said, 'Any revenues collected by the Nepal government and government agencies cannot be collected without the approval of the Council of Ministers.

This dispute has been going on for a long time, but last May the International Aviation Organization (ICAO) also raised the issue of tourists having to pay such fees without receiving any service. Even after that, the authority has written twice to the board asking for a reply.

After the first time there was no response, CAAN sent a letter for the second time.

The board has been saying that it is collecting fees according to the rules and regulations based on the meeting of the Council of Ministers in 2066 and the procedures made thereafter.