Fears of steep user fee hike at Delhi and Mumbai airports unfounded, says Association of Private Airport Operators executive

AERA has appealed against the TDSAT judgment before the Supreme Court and the matter is expected to be heard on Wednesday (December 3) 

Fears of a multi-fold rise in user development fees at Delhi and Mumbai airports are unfounded, an executive from Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) has said.

The concerns of a steep increase have arisen following a recent Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) judgment directing Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) to recalculate the hypothetical regulatory asset base (HRAB) of two airports of FY 2008-09.

HRAB is the notional value of airport assets and is used for the purpose of calculating tariffs.

A recalculation as per TDSAT mandate would significantly increase the two airports’ average revenue requirements than what was approved by the regulator. As such the airports would now be able to recover the difference in form of an increase in user fees.

TDSAT judgment

AERA has appealed against the TDSAT judgment before the Supreme Court and the matter is expected to be heard on Wednesday.

The Civil Aviation Ministry has backed AERA in this dispute and warned of significant increase in user charges for passengers if the tribunal order is implemented. The Ministry estimates that domestic UDF at Delhi could rise from ₹129 to ₹1,261 and that at Mumbai will rise from ₹175 to ₹3,856.

The airports association, however, has said the fears are exaggerated.

“It is not logical to recover past period revenue in over three years only,” the APAO executive said.

He added the burden on passengers would be minimal if the recovery is spread in two control periods over next 8-10 years. 

“Evaluating the entire recovery solely through user development fee departs from the standard methodology which allocates such adjustments across tariff categories (such as aircraft landing and parking charges, common user terminal equipment fees etc). Under this approach the incremental user development fee at Delhi and Mumbai airports will be marginal,” he claimed.

Also a significant amount earned by the two airports will be shared with the Airport Authority of India as per their concession agreements.

Published on December 2, 2025