Civil Court rules airport development charge invalid as GMR opens airline office complex
08 Dec 2011, 5:25 PM
Eleanor Johnstone
GMR today opened a new Airline Office Complex beneath the International Terminal in a step towards consolidating check-in and security procedures for passengers.
The Civil Court has meanwhile ruled against GMR in a case filed by the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), challenging its right to collect a US$25 (Rf385.5) Airport Development Charge (ADC) and US$2 (Rf30.8) Insurance Charge commencing January 2012. The DQP had claimed that a pre-existing Airport Service Charge (ASC) of US$18 (Rf277.56) invalidates the ADC. The legal dispute with DQP could cost GMR Infrastructure US$25 million annually, India’s The Economic Times estimated.
The Civil Court today ruled that the clause in the concession agreement with GMR violated the Airport Service Charges Act of 1978, which was amended in 2009 to raise the charge to US$18 for foreign passengers and US$12 for Maldivians above two years of age.
Judge Ali Rasheed Hussein ruled that the Airport Development Charge and insurance charge were service charges “under other names.”
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