The Supreme Court has issued a show cause order regarding the imposition of different air fare rates for foreign nationals. Due to the difference in fare rates, the tourism industry has been demanding its removal, saying that it has sent a bad message about the entire tourism sector around the world.

The then Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation had implemented a special 'dollar' air fare rate for foreign nationals from mountain flights in 2027. Following that, 9 airlines operating domestic flights have implemented two types of fare rates for domestic and foreign citizens, due to which foreign citizens have to pay 100 to 240 percent more for air fare than Nepali citizens.

The fixed fare for foreign nationals in air services is called 'Dollar Fare'. Any foreigner should pay Nepali Rupees equivalent to the specified dollar or dollar exchange rate for domestic flights. Tapendra Rawal, a tourism businessman from Kailali, filed a petition in the Supreme Court on January 21, stating that the dollar fare was implemented without legal basis and that it hindered the tourist area and market of Mofsal, which has a lot of potential.

Hearing on the writ petition on January 22, the Supreme Court has issued a show cause order in the name of the opponents including the Government of Nepal, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, and the Civil Aviation Authority. The single bench of Judge Balkrishna Dhakal asked the Nepal government, Ministry of Tourism and other opponents to give written answers through the Attorney General's office. 

Tourism businessman Rawal has stated in the application that there are many tourist spots in Mofsal of Nepal including the far west, but foreign tourists cannot reach them due to the high cost of air fare, and has claimed that this arrangement is against the Constitution of Nepal and the Consumer Protection Act. "According to the law, consumers can be citizens or non-citizens, and this is a punishable crime as airline companies have unfairly exploited them," he said in the writ.

The air fare regulation guidelines made using the authority of the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority Act have determined the fare rates for domestic flights to the airline companies so that they remain within the minimum and maximum limits of air fares and there is no dollar fair.

"One-way Kathmandu-Dhangadhi air fare Nepalese citizens pay a minimum of 6500 rupees, while foreigners have to buy tickets for 23 thousand 550 rupees, because of the difference in air fares between domestic and foreign nationals, the Nepalese government only gets 500 rupees as tax, so this fare should be uniform," he demanded. In the writ, he has emphasized that there should be judicial intervention as there is no scientific basis for the two types of air fares. 

The National Parks and Wildlife Regulations have given a legal basis for different fees to be paid by Nepali and foreign citizens, but there is no law on air fares, he reminded.

In March 2079, Rawal also submitted a petition to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to remove the higher fares charged to foreigners. But after the ministry did not give any reply for a year and a half, he also filed a complaint with the National Information Commission. "I went to the court for justice as no one, including the government ministers and concerned bodies, gave an answer," Rawal said, "Airfare is the main obstacle for foreign tourists coming to Nepal not to go to Mofsal." Spokesperson Ramakrishna Lamichhane said that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation discussed this matter recently. "The arrangement to collect dollar fares from foreigners was made by the board of directors of the then Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation," Lamichhane said. Director Maheshwar Bhakta Shrestha said.

 ''At that time, the corporation had the authority to determine the air fares of Nepal and make schedules. Since there is also a representative of the aviation department in the corporation's board of directors, most of the policy decisions regarding air services were made by the corporation," Shrestha said. "Later, the authority declared Jomsom, Pokhara, Meghauli and Lukla as tourist airports in the first phase. After the mountain flight, the air fare rates for foreigners and Nepalis going to those airports were also made different, which continues till now.

After the foreign embassies in Nepal repeatedly complained about the dollar fare to the Prime Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Tourism, etc.

The working group was given the responsibility of studying and analyzing the air fare of the domestic segment and recommending a timely review, maintaining the same fare rate for domestic air flights between foreign and domestic passengers, studying the options and determining the same fare rate for domestic air flights between foreign and domestic passengers and recommending the air fare of the domestic flight.

But due to the covid epidemic that started soon after the formation of the working group, the regular meetings of that working group were affected. The working group submitted the report to the government through an online meeting. But the airline operator opposed it. The Airline Operators Association, Nepal did not send its representative to the working group expressing disagreement on the matter of determining the same air fare rates between domestic and foreign passengers. The

task force recommended that the airline company can determine the air fare in foreign currency or equivalent exchange rate only in the case of mountain flight from the airport of easy route for foreign passengers and flights in Bharatpur, Pokhara, Jomsom and Lukla (including Lukla-Ramechhap) sectors. It was suggested to review the prevailing fares by removing dollar fares from other sectors. By doing so, the fare that Nepalis are paying now would be a bit expensive. This report was not made public because the airline operators did not agree. The recommendation was not implemented.

Airline Operators Association has said that it will discuss the answer demanded by the Supreme Court after Tourism Minister Badri Prasad Pandey returns from Europe. Minister Pandey is in Europe to participate in the International Tourism Fair.