Strict law to curb touting at IGI needed: security officials

A stringent law is needed to curb the menace of touts at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to the police and airport security officials.

A stringent law is needed to curb the menace of touts at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, according to the police and airport security officials.

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Travellers routinely complain about being harassed by touts at the airport, which receives around 24 million domestic and international visitors every year.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), responsible for the airport's security, nabbed around 250 touts last year. Most of them were handed over to the police for further action while others were slapped with a fine by the Airport Manager.

But, this year they have almost touched the same figure within six months, indicating that the action against touts by the CISF and the police has failed to deter them.

"Every month we nab around 45-50 touts. We hand them over to police for further action. At times, we also take them to the airport manager, who imposes fine as per the Airport Act," a senior CISF official said.

However, the CISF and police officials felt that the amount of fine was meagre and the preventive action not so stringent, thus fail to deter the touts from engaging in unscrupulous activities.