Zero commission to travel agents deferred by a month

Mumbai: The country’s top three air carriers — National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL), Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines — have jointly deferred cutting travel agents’ commission from the existing 5 per cent to nil by one month. However, agents say that it doesn’t make a difference.

“They made a presentation to us and therefore we have agreed to defer cutting the commission by a month,” said a NACIL spokesperson.

Shahrukh Kapadia, managing committee member of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said: “After giving all the reasons why zero commission is not a good idea and highlighting that the airlines’ were not well prepared to accept a new system, all they do is defer it by a month.” In June this year, the airlines had informed agents of the cut and had fixed the effective date of October 1 for the change in the six-decade-old system.