Asia Bizz: It looks like Kingfisher Airlines will not be relieved from turbulent times any time soon. More bank accounts of India’s most popular airlines have been frozen by the service tax department after it missed deadline for clearing its dues.
On March 2, 2012, SK Solanki, the Service Tax Commissioner, said that over Thursday and Friday – March 1 and 2 – the department froze 40 bank accounts of the Kingfisher Airlines. Solanki added that the airlines had failed to meet the deadline on February 29, 2012 and the airline owes Rs 40 crore to the department.
The development comes after the Central Board of Excise and Customs had frozen some of its bank accounts last week for non-payment of dues and had given time till February 29, 2012 to pay Rs 10 crores as arrears. The Service Tax Department said that the airline is yet to communicate with the department but they hope that they would contact on Monday.
Solanki further revealed that the accounts were first frozen in November last year and the airline at that time paid only a little over Rs 30 crores. Since the inception of the airline, it has been in a financial mess and is unable to meet its obligations that include the payment of salaries to its employees.
