Praful Patel's mess becoming liability for the passengers

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has always been business- friendly. That was one reason it was widely suspected that the interests of the fare-paying flying public would not be secure when he first became Civil Aviation Minister. Unfortunately, Patel has always seemed determined to confirm the worst fears of critics. The mounting troubles of the national carrier and its huge debt is only one part of the mess he has created.

His favoured treatment of certain private airlines and the refusal to distance himself from them is another. The way Air India and Indian Airlines were sought to be made second-class airlines in preference to their private competitors fully bears out the charge of crony capitalism against the Civil Aviation Minister. It is remarkable that the national carrier survives only because of the periodic infusion of funds from the public exchequer. Neither the required efficiencies in operation nor cutting down of the costly flab was a priority for the minister. The more the public- owned airlines slipped into bankruptcy the more it helped Patel's friends in the private aviation industry.

Emboldened by a friendly minister, in recent weeks private airlines have been competing with one another in raising passenger fares on key sectors. The exorbitant rise in fares on productive and most popular metro routes, say, Delhi- Mumbai, and Delhi- Chennai, have caused a public hue and cry. The only person who has reason to be happy will be Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee since a part of the air traffic will feel obliged to travel by rail rather than pay unheard of air- fares. Indeed, it is extraordinary that the price of a Delhi-Mumbai or a Delhi-Chennai ticket should be more than the air fare for a Delhi-London journey.

Clearly, when there is a friendly minister at the helm in the Civil Aviation Ministry, his cronies in the private aviation industry are bound to have a ball. Even in the original home of capitalism such abuse of the ` free market' and such an exploitation of the consumers is unheard of.

Admittedly, forced by the public outrage against the extorionate air fares, the minister has made some noises and threatened to take some corrective steps.

But the problem is deeper. It concerns the total lack of red- lines for the private players going beyond which would attract stern penal action. Unfortunately, Patel has allowed private players, be it the private concessionaires for airport expansion/ modernization, or the private airline operators, a free hand. The result is that the flying public has had to pay an enormous price for the minister's generosity towards private airlines and airport operators. In Delhi, for instance, the private concessionaire for modernizing the airport has violated the original agreement with impunity.

Yet, he has got away due to Patel's kindness. Not only is he being allowed to levy a surcharge on every flier against the original agreement, he has been allowed to build far more in excess so that he can exploit it commercially for his own private greed. If the way the Delhi Airport project is any indication, the Public- Private- Project model for implementing infrastructure project is far worse than the earlier ministry- implemented works. Whether it is the Mumbai airport, or the Hyderabad airport, the public is being shortchanged by the private concessionaires in collusion with the authorities.

Of course, it is not our case that the Government should push the clock back to the pre- liberalisation days. No. But opening up the aviation sector should not have meant an unbridled exploitation of the paying consumer by private parties. Even in the US, the anti- trust and anti- competition practices are punished severely. Here if a couple of private airlines form an informal cartel to milk the flying public, the Civil Aviation Minister looks the other way. Private operators have long defaulted on repayment of bank loans, on payment for aviation fuel to the public sector oil companies.

Yet, they are extended a life- line by the minister.

Shouldn't he be half as concerned about the welfare of the flying `aam aadmi'? Indeed, a free market needs far more regulatory oversight than was the case under the controlled economy. Is Patel listening?