Belagavi Airport clarifies auto-rickshaw charges: ₹30 for drop-off, ₹50 for pick-up

Belagavi Airport Director says autos are not officially permitted inside airport premises, but limited access has been allowed following requests from auto associations and public representatives. Contractor explains disputed ₹50 collection as ₹20 pending dues from an earlier visit and ₹30 for a subsequent drop-off. AAI says there is no drop-off charge. The contractor says it collects ₹30. AAI says no tariff is defined for autos. The contractor says rates were mutually agreed. So who authorised the collection, under what agreement, and where does the money go?

The controversy over entry charges collected from auto-rickshaws at Belagavi Airport has taken a new turn, with the Airport Director’s office issuing a clarification following queries raised by AllAboutBelagaum.com.

In its response, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has clarified that auto-rickshaws and other three-wheelers are not permitted inside airport premises under the applicable policy. However, considering requests from public representatives and auto-rickshaw associations, limited access has been permitted for passenger pick-up and drop-off.

The clarification states that auto-rickshaws are allowed to park in the designated parking area and pick up passengers as required. The charges collected are based on mutually agreed rates with the parking concessionaire and are lower than the applicable four-wheeler rates.

₹30 for drop-off and ₹50 for pick-up

The parking concessionaire, Hari Om Enterprises, has submitted a detailed explanation to the Airport Director regarding the reported collection of ₹50 from an auto-rickshaw driver.

According to the agency, the agreed charges for auto-rickshaws are:

• ₹30 for passenger drop-off
• ₹50 for passenger pick-up

The agency has clarified that the ₹50 collection highlighted in the earlier complaint was not a single-visit drop-off charge.

According to its explanation, during the original visit, the driver was required to pay ₹30 for dropping a passenger but had only ₹10 available. The remaining ₹20 was outstanding.

When the driver visited the airport again five days later, the agency collected the pending ₹20 along with ₹30 for the subsequent drop-off. This resulted in a total collection of ₹50.

The agency has therefore maintained that the ₹50 was not a charge for a single drop-off but included the outstanding amount from the previous visit.

No official AAI tariff defined for autos

An important aspect of the Airport Director’s response is that there is no separate tariff defined under AAI policy for auto-rickshaws, as three-wheelers are not permitted inside airport premises.

The limited access currently allowed is an arrangement made following requests from the auto-rickshaw association and public representatives, considering the distance of approximately 500 metres between State Highway 20 and the terminal building and the lack of public transport facilities.

The parking contractor has stated that the rates were mutually agreed upon following discussions with AAI representatives and public representatives.

What does the airport parking tariff board say?

The parking tariff board displayed at Belagavi Airport lists charges for different categories of vehicles for up to 30 minutes and between 30 and 120 minutes.

Among the listed rates are:

The displayed tariff board does not list a separate auto-rickshaw category. The ₹30 drop-off and ₹50 pick-up rates are based on the separate arrangement described by the airport and its concessionaire.

Commercial vehicles and excess charges

The Airport Director’s office has also clarified that excess-time charges apply to commercial vehicles irrespective of the time taken between airport entry and exit.

For private vehicles, the permissible duration from airport entry to exit is 10 minutes. Vehicles exceeding this period are liable for excess-time charges.

The agency has reiterated that excess charges for commercial vehicles are collected only at the exit point and not at the time of entry.

The tariff board also mentions excess fees of ₹53 for commercial cars, ₹75 for tempo/SUV/mini buses, ₹213 for coaches/buses/trucks and ₹30 for private cars, in addition to the applicable parking charges.

Questions that prompted the clarification

The issue came into focus after auto-rickshaw driver and vlogger Aman shared videos questioning the collection of charges merely for dropping passengers at Belagavi Airport. In subsequent videos, he reported being charged ₹50 again.

Another auto-rickshaw driver separately reported being charged ₹30 for a passenger drop-off.

Following these reports, AllAboutBelgaum.com wrote to the Airport Director seeking details of the applicable charges, permissible duration, and the official authorisation for collecting the fees. The Airport Director’s office has now responded and shared the concessionaire’s explanation along with the parking tariff.

While the clarification explains the arrangement and the disputed ₹50 collection, it also establishes that the auto-rickshaw rates are based on a separate agreement rather than a tariff formally defined under AAI policy.

The arrangement and its agreed rates need to be clearly communicated to auto-rickshaw drivers and passengers to prevent further confusion and disputes.

Airport Director’s replies to AllAboutBelgaum’s questions

In response to the specific questions raised by AllAboutBelagavi.com, the Airport Director’s office provided the following replies:

1. What is the exact charge applicable for passenger drop-off at Belagavi Airport?

Reply: Nil

2. Is ₹50 charged for every vehicle entering the airport, irrespective of the purpose and duration of stay?

Reply: No

3. What is the permitted free/paid duration for passenger drop-off?

Reply: Permissible time for vehicles from Airport Entry to Airport Exit is 10 minutes.

4. What are the charges applicable based on the duration of stay, if there is a time-based fee structure?

Reply: Time-based fee structure is not applicable.

5. Is there an official order, notification, circular or tariff approved by the competent authority authorising this ₹50 charge?

Reply: NA

6. If so, could you kindly share a copy of the official order/notification and the applicable tariff?

Reply: NA

7. Is the ₹50 charge specifically an entry fee, parking fee, pick-up/drop-off fee, or another airport user charge?

Reply: Parking fee and excess-time fees are as per the tariff board displayed at the Airport.

A key discrepancy remains

While the Airport Director’s office has stated that the applicable charge for passenger drop-off is NIL, the parking concessionaire, Hari Om Enterprises, has stated in its letter that ₹30 is collected for drop-offs and ₹50 for pick-ups under a mutually agreed arrangement.

This raises an important question: If the official AAI response says the drop-off charge is NIL, on what basis is the concessionaire collecting ₹30 for the same service?

The airport authorities also need to clarify the relationship between the 10-minute permissible entry-to-exit period mentioned in their reply and the concessionaire’s statement that excess-time charges apply to commercial vehicles irrespective of the time taken.

These are important points that require further clarification from AAI to ensure transparency in the collection of charges at Belagavi Airport.

The issue is no longer simply whether an auto-rickshaw driver should pay ₹30 or ₹50. It is about who authorised the collection, under what agreement, where the money goes, and why the official explanation does not match the agency’s position.

There are at least seven points that need further examination.

1. AAI says drop-off charge is NIL. The agency says ₹30.

This is the biggest contradiction.

AAI’s written response to our specific question:

What is the exact charge applicable for passenger drop-off at Belagavi Airport?

The answer is unequivocal: NIL.

However, the parking concessionaire, Hari Om Enterprises, says its agreed rates are:

• ₹30 for drop-off.
• ₹50 for pick-up.

These two statements cannot simply be treated as the same thing.

If AAI says the official drop-off charge is NIL, on what authority is the contractor collecting ₹30?

Is the ₹30 a parking charge, a concession fee, an access fee or a charge under a separate arrangement? AAI needs to identify its exact contractual basis.

2. Who agreed to the ₹30 and ₹50 rates?

AAI says limited access was permitted following demands from public representatives and auto-rickshaw associations.

It further says the rates were mutually agreed upon and are lower than those applicable to four-wheelers.

But several important details are missing:

• Who exactly negotiated and approved these rates?
• Was there a written agreement between AAI and the concessionaire?
• Was the auto-rickshaw association a party to this agreement?
• Were the rates approved by the competent AAI authority?
• When did the arrangement come into force?
• Where is the agreement or approval order?

The agency’s claim of a mutually agreed rate is not, by itself, sufficient documentation of the authority to collect money.

3. Where does the ₹30 collected from autos go?

This is a critical financial accountability question.

If the parking concessionaire collects ₹30 for every auto-rickshaw drop-off, the public deserves to know:

• Is the amount deposited with AAI?
• Does the contractor retain it as revenue under its parking concession?
• Is it accounted for separately?

We should not presume that the money is being misappropriated. But the contractual and accounting mechanism must be disclosed.

Who receives the money ultimately, and under which contractual provision?

4. The 10-minute rule is missing from the tariff board

AAI’s reply states:

Permissible time for vehicles from Airport Entry to Airport Exit is 10 minutes.

But the parking tariff board displayed at the airport does not mention this 10-minute rule.

This creates another problem.

• Is the 10-minute allowance applicable to all vehicles?
• Does it apply to commercial vehicles, including autos?
• Is it a free grace period or simply a permitted period?
• If an auto is charged ₹30 for a drop-off, what happens if it exits within 2, 5 or 10 minutes?
• Where is the rule publicly displayed?

A rule communicated through an email but not displayed on the tariff board is hardly transparent to motorists.

There is also a direct inconsistency between AAI and the contractor:

The difference needs a clear explanation.

5. AAI says there is no official order. Then what authorises the collection?

Our question specifically asked whether an official order, notification, circular or approved tariff authorised the ₹50 charge.

AAI’s answer was NA.

When asked to provide a copy of the order or notification, the response was again NA.

This is important. AAI has not identified an official order authorising the specific ₹50 charge.

The agency, meanwhile, relies on a mutually agreed arrangement.

The next question is whether this arrangement is documented in the parking concession agreement or a separate written approval. That document should be made public.

6. The agency’s explanation of the ₹50 incident needs verification

The concessionaire’s report gives a specific explanation for the ₹50 collection.

It claims that the driver had paid only ₹10 against an earlier ₹30 drop-off charge, leaving ₹20 outstanding. On a subsequent visit, the agency says it collected the pending ₹20 along with another ₹30 drop-off charge.

However, the same report also states that the vehicle’s identity could not be traced and that no written complaint had been received.

This raises a reasonable question: If the vehicle could not be identified and no written complaint was received, what records were used to establish the previous unpaid ₹20 and the subsequent collection of ₹50?

The agency should produce the relevant transaction records, receipts or vehicle-entry records to substantiate its explanation.

7. Why are the agreed auto rates not displayed on the tariff board?

The displayed tariff board lists charges for private cars, commercial cars, SUVs, buses, trucks and two-wheelers.

It does not have a separate auto-rickshaw category.

Yet the concessionaire claims to collect ₹30 for drop-off and ₹50 for pick-up.

If these are approved or mutually agreed charges, why are they not displayed prominently?

Motorists should not have to discover the applicable charges only after entering the airport premises.