Tag Archives: TAFI

TAFI Guj Chapter organises four-day FAM trip within Gujarat

The Travel Agents Federation of INDIA (Gujarat Chapter) recently organised a four-day FAM trip within Gujarat to Saputara and Tent city 1, Kevadia. Led by Chapter Chairman, Jigar Dudakiya, the team undertook this educational tour sponsored by Gujarat Tourism. Keeping the health safety in mind, the TAFI team gave suggestions and precautionary measures which every members had to follow during the tour. They also distributed Covid kits to delegates that included steam machine with Genvol inhalant capsules, thermometer, sanitizer, and masks.

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Supreme Court says full refund to agents for tickets booked by them

The Supreme Court has pronounced the verdict on the airline refund case that was led by Pravasi Legal Cell. It has accepted DGCA’s recommendations on airfare refund and travel agents will get a full refund for tickets booked by them, and not directly to the passengers. The full refund scheme formulated by the DGCA has been approved by the Supreme Court. Both, the Indian Tour Operators Association of India (IATO) and Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) had filed a writ petition in court for this. Sharing this happy development, Pradip Lulla, Acting President and Vice President, TAFI, says, “We are very happy with the verdict. The tickets purchased through travel agents will be refunded back to agents and coupons of passengers will be made through travel agents.” The judgement copy stated, ‘…the action on the part of airlines operating domestic as well as international flights in India, in refusing to refund the full amount collected for tickets to travel during the period of ban on air travel, as illegal and arbitrary…’ It adds, ‘It is the case of the petitioner that where the tickets are booked by travel agents from their account, refund should be made in the same manner and channel though which payments for tickets have been received by the airlines.’

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TAFI requests GST Council to review GST refund on air tickets

TAFI has requested the GST Council and the Finance Ministry to review the refund of GST on air ticket refunds, and extend the date applicable for refund GST till March 31, 2021 due to the delay in total refunds by airlines. It said that as per rule, if tickets are not refunded till September 30, 2020, then GST will not be refunded and customers will end up losing 5% in the economy class ticket and 12% in business class of the ticket value. TAFI has also filed a case in Supreme Court for airline refunds and the next hearing is on September 23.

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TAFI cuts subscription fee by 25% considering slowdown in business

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), along with its Managing Committee, has decided to reduce its annual subscription for its agents by 25 per cent across the board in view of the current situation. Pradip Lulla, President, TAFI, says, “We realise that there isn’t much business for the trade right now. Keeping this in mind we decided to reduce our fee.” The association is looking to conduct its virtual convention in November and will shortly finalise the details.

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TAFI writes to airlines seeking clarification on ticket refunds for booking post 25th May

Pradeep Lulla, Acting President and VP, TAFI, has said that the association has reached out to all the domestic airlines seeking clarification on air ticket refunds for bookings made for travel from 25th May 2020. This comes after the government decided to resume limited domestic flight operations around the country. Lulla said that since certain conditional clarifications are not mentioned by the airlines, they have written to airlines for matters concerning tour operators. He also said that TAFI’s petition on airline refunds in Supreme Court will come up for hearing probably in the next 10 days.

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GST still remains an issue: TAFI

Pradip Lulla, Acting President and VP, TAFI, believes that there are no sops in this year’s Budget to boost the travel industry. “I hope that GST on services provided by travel agents at 18 per cent will be reviewed. Further, corporate tax reduction to 25 percentage is only on turnover of Rs 400 crore which excludes most of us! Also, double taxation on our tour pricing has been having a cascading on our costs making us uncompetitive. I hope that the industry receives some relief from the GST Council in future,” he said.

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TAAI and TAFI urge Air India to review its decision on single GDS

After Air India announced offering its inventory solely through its select GDS,  Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) along with Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) has urged the airline to review its decision. In a joint statement, the two associations said, “For these agencies including those which do not have access or frequently sell the airline seats on the GDS preferred by Air India, it is quite evident that selling Air India would not be an easy proposition and thus thay may opt for other airlines for their customers. For several established agencies, usage of GDS is governed by global agreements they have entered into and thus switching over or training their staff to get used to this limited GDS access will be a difficult option to cope with.’ On November 5, both the associations had a detailed discussion with the Air India Senior Management and conveyed that this decision of going exclusive on a GDS would be detrimental to the airline and this must be urgently reviewed. The associations are keen that Air India must not suffer any losses that would further damage the health of the airline. The senior management promised to revert in a day and on November 6, the associations received a phone call from them to inform that there will be no change in Air India’s stand. The joint statement goes on to add, “Air India has been reeling under tremendous financial challenges and instead of finding ways to increase its seat sales via an easy access through GDS channels, this move by the national carrier is shocking. The response given by Air India is that this would save its distribution costs. It is a …

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TAFI elects new team for 2018-20 term

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) has elected their new Managing Committee for 2018-20 term. Praveen Chugh from Business Travels has been chosen as the President unopposed. Pradip Lulla from Cupid Travels & Tours is the new Vice President, Aditi Bhende from Aarohan Tours & Travel is the new National General Secretary, while Jayesh Tharani, Hopco Travels, has been elected as the new treasurer. All the new office bearers and managing committee members have been elected unopposed. The Returning Officer for the election was Ashish Gupta – Founder, Strategy Pluto & Consulting and CEO, FAITH. The Managing Committee members include A Basheer Ahmed, Chennai Metro Travels; Rajat Bagaria, Shrishti Tours & Travels; Urvashi D Mohan, Delfly Travels; Bharat Shah, Sunbeams Travels, Baroda and TeddyM Thomas, Oasis Xpress Travel & Tours. Zakkir Ahmed, Trust Travel & Tours, remain part of the MC as immediate Vice President. The MC further appointed Rajat Bagaria as Joint Secretary and Teddy Thomas as Joint Treasurer. The MC also selected four members representing different regions of the Association— Abbas Moiz, Shoiz International Travel Services, Mumbai; Hitank Shah, Alka Airlink, Ahmedabad; S H Mohideen, Aero Travel Services, Chennai and Vijay Gupta, Golden Phoenix Travels, New Delhi.

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TAFI convention to focus on ‘Innovate, Transform & Disrupt’

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) is ready to host its next annual convention in Abu Dhabi this year. With the theme ‘Innovate – Transform – Disrupt: Redefining the offline travel world’, the convention will be held from September 25-27, 2018 at Emirates Palace. Business Sessions have been planned keeping in mind the fast-changing world of travel, with disruption becoming a way of life. Bharat Shah, Managing Committee Member, will be chairing this year’s Convention. About 600 members from across the chapters have registered for this event. There will be a World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) meeting before the three-day convention begins in Abu Dhabi. The speakers at the convention will include two motivational speakers as well as some international speakers.

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