Kingfisher, among several airlines whose cheques to AAI have bounced

New Delhi, March 29:

During 2011, Kingfisher Airlines presented five cheques totalling Rs 122.07 crore to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which could not be encashed due insufficient funds in the accounts of the airline.

This has been revealed in an RTI filed by a Pune-based RTI activist, Mr Sanjay Ramesh Shirodkar.

Three cheques worth Rs 65 crore were drawn on Axis Bank, Mumbai, while the remaining two were on ICICI Bank, the data provided by AAI in the RTI reply shows.

The RTI reply also shows that Kingfisher is not the only airline whose cheques to AAI bounced. Between January 1, 2000 and February 14 this year, several domestic and international airlines gave cheques to AAI that bounced.

The domestic airlines include IndiGo, Jet Airways, JetLite while the international airlines include Emirates and Qatar Airways.

Interestingly, the cheques that bounced have been those that have been presented at the Ahmedabad and Pune airports only. The State-owned AAI owns and manages 92 airports and 28 civil enclaves at defence airfields and provides air traffic services over the entire Indian airspace and adjoining oceanic areas.

While the law allows a person or institution who presents a cheque which bounces to file a suit for recovery of funds, it was not immediate clear what action AAI initiated against these airlines.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways maintained that there had been no instance of payments due to AAI.

Source