By IANS,
New Delhi : Six private airlines, including Jet and Kingfisher, owed Rs.1,887.82 crore to public sector oil companies, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha.
He was replying to question on how much dues the airlines owed to public sector oil companies like Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).
According to Patel, Jet airways led the defaulters pack with Rs.960.15 crore, followed by Kingfisher (Rs.814.49 crore), Spicejet (Rs.74.5 crore) and Paramount Airways (Rs.19.28 crore).
Asked whether the oil companies were losing money due to this, the minister said: “Holding up of payments by the private airlines do not add to the losses of oil marketing companies (OMCs) as interest is being recovered on overdue payments.”
He added that if the airlines fail to pay their dues the OMCs can take actions like putting the defaulting airlines on a “cash and carry” basis.
HPCL last month had put Kingfisher airlines on a “cash and carry” basis.
“In case OMCs fail to recover their outstanding dues, OMCs resort to take legal route by filing suit against the defaulting airlines in the country of law for recovery,” Patel added, referring to the HPCL and Kingfisher case which went to court in 2009.
The court ordered the airline to pay all its dues by November 2010.