One lakh travel agents or more could lose their jobs in the New Year if the problem related to fees on ticket sales is not solved soon. Many small travel agencies may be forced to shut down as airlines have stopped payment of transaction fees on ticket sales from December 1. This is in addition to the airlines’ stopping payment of 5% commission to agents from November 1.
“Travel Agents Federation of India chairperson Vasuki Sundaram told ET that nearly one lakh agents will be on the road if the 'problem' is not resolved expeditiously.”There are around one crore travel agents in India. Of these, 50,000 are registered under the IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI). The agents account for 85% of the total tickets sold in the India. The remaining 15% are sold directly by the carriers.
The dispute arose when Jet Airways, Air India and Kingfisher stopped paying 5% commission to the travel agents from November 1. The situation aggravated when the airlines implemented a zero-transaction fee regime from December 1.
An analyst with a domestic brokerage firm said large players may survive, but small and individual agents are likely to be hit hard.
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