« Top Headlines » Open DEMAT Account in 24 hrs  Delhi HC Rules GST Registration Cannot Be Cancelled Retrospectively Without a Clear Show Cause Notice (SCN)  Belated income tax return AY 2026-27: How to file, late filing charges and what you may lose  Major Financial Changes from August 1, 2026: ITR Deadline, RBI MPC Meeting, Tatkal Ticket Rules & More  Government proposes to ease tax relief conditions for offshore funds  TallyPrime Connected Banking: Automating Banking and Accounting  ITR Filing Deadline 2026: Is July 31 the Last Date to File Your Income Tax Return? Latest Official Update  ITR filing deadline nears: How to file income tax return online on e-filing portal - quick 15-step guide  Will the ITR Filing Deadline Be Extended Beyond July 31 for FY 2025-26? Here's the Latest Update for Taxpayers  Income Tax Refund Delayed for AY 2026-27? 5 Common Reasons Your Refund May Be Stuck and How to Fix It  ITR Filing 2026: FM Nirmala Sitharaman Asks Tax Officials to Let Honest Taxpayers Correct Genuine Mistakes  Will Your FCNR Deposit Stay Tax-Free After Returning to India? Tax Rules Explained for NRIs «  Advance tax may strain funds; Re likely to rise... Reduce corporate taxes to attract more investments: KPMG... » Congestion surcharge is no tax, says govt December, 03rd 2007 Domestic airlines including Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Simplify Deccan may come under fire from the government for misleading passengers. The ministry of civil aviation is planning to slap a notice to air carriers for charging fuel-surcharge and congestion fee as tax. We have verbally communicated our concern to the airlines but even then they have not paid any heed to it. We would soon write to them to stop this practice. Tax is a prerogative of the government and hence they (airlines) should not jump onto it. Transparency must be maintained while dealing with consumers, a top government official said. Airlines mention surcharge and congestion fee under the head of tax in their tickets to passengers. For example, if they charge an airfare of Rs 5,200 for Delhi-Mumbai they mention Rs 3,475 as airfare and Rs 1,725 as tax in the tickets even though the actual tax component in the airfare is just Rs 225 per passenger. The other charges levied as tax are a fuel surcharge of Rs 1,350 and a congestion fee of Rs 150. Both congestion fee and fuel surcharge go to airlines. If only Rs 225 goes to the government or the airport operator, why should airlines charge other fees which comes to them as tax, the official added. The tax levied on passengers goes to airport operator towards airport and terminal building maintenance, providing passenger amenities and security among others. While, security forces are deployed at airports by the government, the airport operator pays them their salaries. While airlines maintain that surcharge is different from tax, they still print it as tax on tickets. In the past, airlines have hiked airfare indirectly by increasing fuel surcharge. Airlines dont include fuel surcharge in the airfare to show low fares.