Payments to airlines/travel agents - The provisions of section 194C do not apply to the payments made to the airlines or the travel agents for purchase of tickets for air travel of individuals. The provisions shall however apply when payments are made for chartering an aircraft for carriage of passengers or goods. This clarification will apply mutatis mutandis to the tickets for travel of individual by any other mode of transport also—Circular : No. 713, dated 2-8-1995.
The payments made to a travel agent or an airline for purchase of a ticket for travel would not be subjected to tax deduction at source as the privity of the contract is between the individual passenger and the airline/travel agent, notwithstanding the fact that the payment is made by an entity mentioned in section 194C(1). The provisions of section 194C shall however apply when a plane or a bus or any other mode of transport is chartered by one of the entities mentioned in section 194C—Circular : No. 715, dated 8-8-1995.