149Fees and charges

149 Fees and charges (1) The fee or charge specified or referred to in column 3 of an item in Schedule 2 is payable in respect of the matter specified opposite thereto in column 2 of that item, at the time an application in relation to that matter is made, by or on behalf of the person who makes the application. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in these Regulations, a person is not entitled to the grant, issue, variation or renewal of a permission or approval being a matter in respect of which a fee or charge is payable under subregulation (1), until that fee or charge has been paid. (3) Where: (a) a person has paid, under subregulation (1), an amount as a fee or charge upon making an application in relation to a matter specified in column 2 of Schedule 2; and (b) a permission or approval was not granted, issued, endorsed, validated, varied or renewed, or a group of three letters was not reserved as a result of the application, or the person did not take the examination in respect of which the amount was paid; the person is entitled to have refunded to him or her an amount equal to the amount so paid less an amount equal to the expenses (if any) incurred by the Commonwealth in relation to the matter in respect of which the application was made. (4) In this regulation and in Schedule 2, unless the contrary intention appears: > Australian operator means an operator that is a person who is an Australian. > international operation means an operation that involves departure from a point outside Australia, or arrival at a point outside Australia. > person who is an Australian means an Australian citizen, a corporation established by a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, or a corporation the whole or a majority of the shares in which are owned or controlled by the Commonwealth or by Australian citizens.