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Tunia Cherian George

Mumbai , March 11

TRAVEL agents have got a breather of one month before Air-India reduces the commission paid to them to five per cent from seven per cent currently.

AI has decided to reduce the commission paid to travel agents from May 1, a month later than the earlier date of April 1.

According to an airline spokesperson, the national carrier had decided to postpone the date to May 1 to give sufficient notice to agents.

Reacting to AI's decision, which was communicated to them on Thursday, the President of the Travel Agents' Association of India, Mr Balbir Mayal, said the travel agents would oppose any move to reduce their commission.

All the associations and representative bodies of the travel agents would come together to solve the issue amicably. However, if they were unable to resolve the matter with the airline, the agents would have no choice but to suspend sales of AI tickets, he said.

While acknowledging that commissions in the West were on the downtrend, he said travel agents in India provided far more services to their customers. Besides giving their clients travel advice and drawing out itineraries, the agents also extended credit to their customers — a practice not prevalent in the West.

He added that AI's current move was a step towards its final goal of doing away with commissions entirely, which would force 60 per cent of the travel agents to shut shop.

According to another travel agent, the airline's move might encourage foreign carriers to announce reductions in commissions as well. Meanwhile, a Mumbai travel agent said the agents had not yet decided on a course of action.

At a press meet called earlier this week, the Travel Agents' Association of India (TAAI) had decided to boycott AI if it went ahead with plans to reduce their commission.

European carriers have for long been threatening to bring down the commission rate to 5 per cent. However, these have fizzled out in the face of a boycott threat by agents.

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