An attractive scheme awaits air passengers seeking a refund for their reserved tickets ahead of the Covid-19 lockdown that took effect on March 25.
In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have proposed that all passengers will be entitled to a full refund of their reserved tickets before March 25 within of the 15 days.
The scheme formulated by the Center also establishes that if any airline is not in a financial position to pay immediately, the amount of the fare will be kept in a credit deposit so that the passenger can use it to travel on the same airline in any route before March 31st. , 2021. This option is not available to foreign carriers, who must refund within 15 days.
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If a passenger does not wish to travel, the credit shell can be transferred to anyone. If the amount is not used, interest will accrue each month on this amount and will be fully refunded after March 31, 2021.
The DGCA notification of April 16, 2020 referred to the full refund of tickets reserved during the lockdown (March 25 to April 14). Those who booked tickets before this date had approached the Supreme Court to request a refund of their ticket amounts.
On June 12, the Court ordered the Center to find a solution after consulting airline operators and travel agents. A bench of three judges headed by Judge Ashok Bhushan will consider the Center’s affidavit when taking the petitions on September 9.
Pravasi Legal Cell, one of the petitioners in the higher court, welcomed the Center’s decision. Attorney José Abraham, representative of Pravasi Legal Cell, told HT: “Almost 95 percent of the petitioners before the Court had reserved tickets before closing. The notification of April 16 from the DGAC was of no importance to us. Even the Credit Shell proposed therein contained rigid terms. The current DGCA solution has balanced the interests of passengers by protecting their money and has allowed flexible terms at Credit Shell. “
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MoCA and DGCA officials held two rounds of discussions with airline operators on July 2 and 8 before coming up with this solution. In his affidavit, he stated that the non-refunds of fares and the creation of an involuntary credit shell by the airlines was a clear violation of the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) and the passenger charter that could result in an action. compliance under the Aircraft Rules of 1937. But the airlines claimed inability to pay the refund immediately and requested a window period to make payments.
The Center in its affidavit said: “Any enforcement action would further restrict / reduce its (airline’s) operations and therefore such enforcement action may further jeopardize cash generation possibilities by the airline, which may adversely affect / delay the refund cycle. . “This could affect the Indian aviation industry as a whole, the Center added.
To balance the two interests, the Center introduced an incentive plan through which an interest of 0.5 percent will accrue on the original rate found in the credit shell from the date of flight cancellation until June 30 2020. Beyond this period, the passenger can make use of 0.75 interest percentage each month until March 31, 2021.
This scheme will apply to Indian carriers who are responsible for a refund on all domestic and international routes. Even in the case of tickets booked through travel agencies, the credit deposit will be in the passenger’s name and refunds, if any, would be transferred by the travel agency to the passengers.
The Center, however, added an additional clause to its proposal stating: “The above proposal is formulated by the respondent (Center) as an exception considering the problems that are precipitated during the Covid-19 pandemic and is without prejudice of the regulatory framework provided in the aforementioned CAR “.
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