"It is (transaction fee) unfair and unjustified charge. We are very happy at the ruling of the Supreme Court and we have been agitating this matter for past several months," said D Sudhakara Reddy, national president of Airlines Passengers Association of India (APAI).
Meanwhile, most of the airlines did not respond on the apex court's directive.
However, Wadia Group-promoted budget airline GoAir claimed it maintains complete transparency in their transactions.
"The ruling is not applicable to us. At GoAir, we believe in complete transparency and value addition to our passengers. When you book directly on the GoAir website, only Rs 50 is charged as CUTE (Commom User Terminal Equipment) charge towards payment to WIPRO and SITA who are our third party vendors for electronic services rendered by them," a company spokesperson said.
The SC today restrained airlines from levying transaction fee in any form on the passengers and also directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to examine the tariff structure of the airlines in view of their wide range of base prices for air tickets.
