Channel Chat

The Official Voice Of ETAA

Sub-agents undecided over domestic BSP option

Preeti Kannan - Chennai

The domestic Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), which was formalised in December last year, slated to include all IATA and non-IATA agents who can get accreditation by October 2006, has elicited a mixed response from the sub-agent fraternity, especially from the cities of Chennai and Bangalore.

The decision has put sub-agents in a fix; their only chance for survival is to affiliate themselves with IATA or cease to exist. While some sub-agents feel that the move will only affect those who stock tickets because of their complete dependence on IATA agents to issue tickets, many even harbour the insecurity of being wiped out of business.

In any case, all agree that it is the airlines that stand to lose if they have to depend on IATA agents to issue tickets. Says Narasimhan, manager of Sri Ravi Travels, "There might be instances where a client might need tickets urgently. If we are unable to issue it, he might not be able to travel. This will only decrease traffic for the airlines." More than airlines being hit, sub-agents like Skyline Tours & Travels are worried about their future. Mohammed Ashraff of Skyline Tours & Travels laments, "All sub-agents who can't afford to get IATA accreditation, will have to shut shop once domestic ticketing is also routed through the BSP. We cannot raise a huge bank guarantee to become IATA." Not being a part of IATA, he points out, will mean forced dependence on accredited agents who play favourites by sidelining sub-agents selling lesser tickets.

However, there are people who believe that the change would not dent their business. Brenda D' Souza from Embark Travels in Bangalore asserts that her company does more business as a sub-agent. She maintains that with people getting extremely computer savvy, there is no point of any accreditation. The issue has interestingly thrown up another point - the phasing out of manual tickets completely.

Airlines could end up being the sole beneficiaries of this new system, going by what agents are saying. E-ticketing would help airlines exert better control over agents, who resort to unethical practices just to satisfy customers. While it is against IATA rules to give ticket stock to sub-agents, consolidators still hand over tickets directly to them. The BSP could end up plugging this loophole as well. Aria Xerxes, CEO of Genesis Leisure, a sub-agent in Bangalore, says that the only solution for sub-agents used to issuing tickets is to become an IATA. He says that the system would ensure a consolidated payment for airlines.

As the debate rages on, sceptics believe that domestic BSP still has a long way to go before it materialises. They would rather wait for it to actually come into effect before they press the panic button. What remains to be seen is whether IATA's decision to include domestic ticketing in the BSP will phase out manual ticketing or the sub-agent fraternity itself. Probably once it comes into practice, the more enterprising sub-agents might get their act together to specialise into different streams like holiday packaging and tour operations, simultaneously offering end-to-end travel solutions, including ticketing, albeit with help from accredited agents.