Rajya Sabha passed AERA (Amendment) Bill, 2021

 Highlights

• Bill was tabled by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and was passed in the Lok Sabha in June 2021.
• Now, it will be sent to the President Ram Nath Kovind for his assent.

Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill 2021

• AERA bill proposes to amend definition of ‘major airport’ in accordance with Airports Economic Regulatory Authority Act, 2008 (AERA Act).
• Bill seeks to aide government’s plan of privatisation of smaller airports under its asset monetisation programme that was announced during union budget for 2021-22.
• it also promises to help in faster development of small airports and expediting regional air connectivity UDAN scheme by expanding air connectivity in remote areas.
• Amendment will enable AERA to regulate tariff and other charges of aeronautical services for major airport with annual passenger traffic of more than 3.5 million as well as a group of airports together.

Background

Bill was first introduced in March 2021 and was subsequently sent to a parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture. Committee had approved it without any changes.

Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA)

AERA is a regulatory agency that regulate tariff and other expenditure & fees of major airports in India. This statutory body was established under Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act (AERA), 2008.

UDAN scheme

UDAN stands for Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik. It is a regional airport development and Regional Connectivity Scheme that was launched with the objective of “letting common citizen of India fly”. It aims to make air travel affordable and widespread. It also seeks to boost inclusive national economic development, job growth and air transport infrastructure development across the states.