Sydney: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Monday castigated India for taxing international tickets, as it asked governments to facilitate the growth of worldwide connectivity by avoiding creeping re-regulation, maintaining the integrity of global standards and addressing a capacity crisis.

“We must take governments to task. It is unacceptable that global standards are being ignored by the very governments that created them,” IATA’s Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said.

Asserting that India was taxing international tickets in contravention of the resolutions of the UN body International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), de Juniac said, “India helped develop ICAO resolutions prohibiting tax on international tickets.”

“Yet it persists in taxing international travel,” he said, apparently referring to the imposition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and enhancement of its rates on international air tickets, especially business class.

The Indian government had announced the implementation of the GST from July 1, 2017. The tax covers airline products and services including tickets, ancillary, change, refund and other products and fees.

De Juniac was presenting a report on the air transport industry at the opening session of the 74th IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit, which began here on Monday.

“On aviation’s core mission to deliver safe, secure, accessible and sustainable connectivity, the state of our industry is strong and getting stronger. And with ‘normal’ levels of profitability we are spreading aviation’s benefits even more widely.

“But there are challenges. Smarter regulation needs to counter the trend of creeping re-regulation. Global standards must be maintained by the states that agreed (upon) them. And we need to find efficient solutions to the looming capacity crisis,” he said.

— PTI