National carrier, Air India, which had reportedly evaded depositing the TDS and PF of its retired employees since January 2020, claims to have deposited these dues, which it says will be released within a month or two. It also assures that the Form 16 are being distributed.
The usual practice is that the Company releases its contribution within 60 days of an employee’s retirement — provided the necessary clearance certificates have been given by the finance, personnel, vigilance and security departments — once the management is convinced that there are not dues outstanding in the employee’s name.
Meanwhile, Air India owes the highest amount to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), in terms of pending dues. Its dues have gone up by 2.75 per cent to Rs 2,258.27 crore in this period. The dues of SpiceJet, GoAir and AirAsia India to AAI have more than doubled in the February to July period, owing to the ongoing pandemic. These dues include parking, air navigation and landing charges, and other fees for using the facilities offered by the over 100 airports.
IndiGo alone owed Rs 41.62 crore as on February 1. Over the past few months, this amount has gone by 130.6 per cent, to a whopping Rs 95.99 crore, post the coronavirus outbreak, which too the maximum toll on the aviation sector.
On February 1 this year, Air India owed Rs 2197.6 crore to AAI. This figure has gone up to Rs 2258.27 crore as on August 1.
