[20th
April 2023] In exercise of the powers
conferred by section 42 of the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994 (55 of
1994), the Airports Authority of India with the previous approval of the
Central Government hereby makes the following regulations to amend the Airports
Authority of India (Ground Handling Services) Regulations, 2018 namely:- (1)
These regulations may be called the Airports
Authority of India (Ground Handling Services) Amendment Regulations, 2023. (2)
They shall come into force on the date of
their publication in the Official Gazette. (i)
for sub-regulation (1), the following
sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:- (1)
All domestic scheduled airline operators and
domestic scheduled helicopter operators may carry out ground handling
activities solely for the purpose of self-handling at all airports including
civil enclaves; (ii)
for sub-regulation (4), the following
sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:- (4) At the airport having annual passenger
throughput of ten million passengers per annum or above, the airport operator
shall ensure that there will be three ground handling agencies including that
of,- (a)
the airport operator or its joint venture or
its hundred percent owned subsidiary, provided that this mode is used only when
the airport operator has invited bids as under clause (c) and no bidder is
found suitable or selected; (b)
subject to sub-regulations (8) and (8A), a
subsidiary or joint venture of a public sector undertaking. In case there is no
subsidiary or joint venture of a public sector undertaking, a ground handling
agency shall be selected through a bidding process as under clause (c); and (c)
any other ground handling agency appointed by
the airport operator through a transparent bidding process; (iii)
for sub-regulation (5), the following
sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:- (5) At the airport having annual passenger
throughput of less than ten million passengers per annum, based on the traffic
output and airside and terminal building capacity, the airport operator may
decide on the number of ground handling agencies, not exceeding three,
including that of,- (a)
the airport operator or its joint venture or
its hundred percent owned subsidiary, provided that this is used only when the
airport operator has invited bids as under clause (c) and no bidder is found
suitable or selected; (b)
subject to sub-regulations (8) and (8A), a
subsidiary or joint venture of a public sector undertaking. In case there is no
subsidiary or joint venture of a public sector undertaking, a ground handling
agency shall be selected through a bidding process as under clause (c); and (c)
any other ground handling agency appointed by
the airport operator through a transparent bidding process; (iv)
for sub-regulation (7), the following
sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:- (7) Subject to sub-regulations (8) and (8A), at
all airports, the subsidiary or joint venture of a public sector undertaking
shall match the lowest royalty or revenue share, as applicable, paid by the
other ground handling agency at such airport; (v)
for sub-regulation (8), the following
sub-regulation shall be substituted, namely:- (8) The provisions of sub-regulations (4), (5) and
(7) relating to subsidiary or joint venture of a public sector undertaking
shall: (i)
continue to apply so long as such ground
handling agency remains a subsidiary or joint venture of a public sector
undertaking; (ii)
continue to apply to such ground handling
agency at all such airports where it is operating as a ground handling agency,
from the date such ground handling agency ceases to be a subsidiary or a joint
venture of a public sector undertaking till the earlier of: (a)
eighty four months, or (b)
change in more than fifty percent
shareholding of such ground handling agency save and except where such change
in shareholding is after the expiry of the lock-in period agreed to at the time
of acquisition of such ground handling agency by a private sector entity; (iii)
continue to be applicable to a successor
entity, being a special purpose vehicle, which acquires the ground handling
agency at a civil enclave subject to: (a)
compliance with sub-regulation (6), and (b)
there being no change in more than fifty
percent shareholding of such successor entity for the period of eighty-four
months from the date of its acquisition, save and except where such change in
shareholding is after the expiry of the lock-in period agreed to at the time of
acquisition of such ground handling agency by a private sector entity; (vi)
after sub-regulation (8), the following shall
be inserted, namely:- "(8A)
No ground handling agency or any person(s) controlling such ground handling
agency shall have significant influence in any other ground handling agency
operating on the same airport. In case a ground handling agency or the
person(s) controlling the ground handling agency has significant influence in
another ground handling agency operating on the same airport or acquires
significant influence in another ground handling agency operating on the same
airport pursuant to an acquisition from a public sector enterprise:- (a)
the two ground agencies operating at the same
airport shall be deemed to be a single ground handling agency at the relevant
airport; (b)
airport operator for such airport shall
promptly appoint another ground handling agency through a transparent bidding
process; and (c)
(A) within twenty four months of such
acquisition, such ground handling agency/person(s) controlling the ground
handling agency shall reorganize or restructure the business of the ground
handling agencies to ensure that on completion of such twenty four month
period, only one of the two ground agencies operates at the relevant airport;
or (B) on expiry of twenty four
months of such acquisition, of the two ground handling agencies, the ground
handling agency with the shorter outstanding concession period, shall be deemed
to have surrendered its concession at the relevant airport. Explanation:-For the
purposes of this sub-regulation, the terms "significant influence"
and "control" shall have the meanings as respectively assigned to
them in the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013);Airports
Authority Of India (Ground Handling Services) Amendment Regulations, 2023
In the Airports Authority of India (Ground Handling Services) Regulations,
2018, in regulation 3,-