TAAI to challenge double taxation on air ticketing

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), a body representing travel agents in the country, is contemplating challenging in the court the double taxation (tax on airfare and on the commission to the travel agent) being imposed on air ticketing.

"The double taxation is causing concern for travel agents and we have represented this problem to the finance minister, who responded sympathetically. We would wait till February 2008 for a positive response from the Centre and then look at filing a writ, which has already been drafted, with the court," Challa Prasad, president of TAAI, told mediapersons here on Thursday.

Prasad, managing director of Hyderabad-based Travel Express Limited, was recently elected as president of the United Federation of Travel Agents' Associations (UFTAA), a non-profit confederation representing 181 national associations.

Expressing concern over the shortage of manpower in the travel industry, he said UFTAA was planning to set up a global training institute in Brussels and introduce a global certification programme shortly.

UFTAA would hold 51 per cent stake in the training institute while the rest would be distributed among its member associations.

The certification course would comprise three modules "� an international module involving softskills, and global regulations, a nation-specific model and the third involving various case studies.