Aviation Regulator Fixes Fee Structure for Services

In the wake of complaints of red-tape and delays, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has come up with specific timelines and fee structure for its services like issuing of flying permits, airworthiness certificates, aircraft import or even clearance of flight schedules.

The Proposed Tata-SIA Airline is likely to benefit from a timeline of six months that has been fixed for issuing of an air operator's permit (AOP or flying licence) after a carrier gets a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Civil Aviation Ministry. Tata-SIA got the NOC on April 2.

DGCA sources said the grant of AOP was subject to condition that the applicant met all requirements and acquires desired capabilities to operate air transport services.

Apart from AOP, the aviation regulator provides various other services to airlines, airports, other related bodies, apart from individual pilots or cabin crew.

So far, there were no timelines for the grant of many of these services and there were complaints of delays and red-tape from several quarters.

The DGCA has now come up with a booklet called 'Standard of Services', which details the fee structure and the maximum time by which, say, a certificate would be issued or a flight schedule or a cabin crew training programme is approved. Many of the services are also provided free of cost.

The decision is understood to have been taken as a step towards meeting the requirements for getting the downgrade of India's safety mechanism revoked and the top Category-I status restored by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

For instance, the grant of an aerodrome license for a new airport would be three months on the condition that the operator has to fulfil all requirements, including those given in the Airport Manual and the ones relating to operational safety. The fee is fixed at Rs 5 lakh for an airport for public use and Rs 1 lakh for private use.

Foreign airlines, which have to get their flight schedules for India approved by the DGCA, would get their

operating authorisation for commencement of flights within three months. For renewal of this authorisation, it would take one month. No fees are charged on both these counts.

Similar time-schedules have been fixed for approval of an airline's cabin crew training programme or certification of a new radar or communication-navigation equipment which need to be installed.

Similar detailed schedules have also been fixed for pilots or student pilots, among the various other services aviation regulator DGCA provides to the entire industry.