By Chinedu Eze
As the final deadline given to airlines to automate their payment system for the remittances of the statutory 5 percent ticket sales/cargo sales charge ends, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has vowed to sanction airlines that did not meet the deadline.
The Authority had shifted the January 31st, 2017 ultimatum to March ending at the instance of the Airlines Operators of Nigeria (AON) at their earlier meeting with the Director General, Capt. Muhtar Usman and his team at the Aviation House.
The introduction of the Aviation Revenue Automation Project (ARAP) for revenue collection is to aid data integrity, transparency, transaction accountability, controls and revenue assurance to the Authority.
The agency said with the expiration of this final warning, it is expected that all airlines that are yet to adhere to the automation and remit collected revenue to NCAA should comply forthwith.
NCAA said failure to comply will be viewed seriously as the Authority will be forced to invoke the necessary provisions of the law against defaulting airline.
It explained that the 5 percent Ticket Sales Charge/Cargo Sales Charge, an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to NCAA and other agencies as enshrined in the Civil Aviation Act 2006 is not a tax or levy on the airlines, but a charge paid by passengers for services rendered towards the development of aviation industry in Nigeria.
The agency said the decision to collect the charges by the airlines was mooted by the operators and unanimously agreed upon at the 2001 Civil Policy Review with the sole aim to enhance passengers’ facilitation.
