New Delhi:
Airlines will have to refund money raised from tickets that were canceled after the coronavirus-induced lockdown without any cancellation fee, the Supreme Court said today. The three-judge bench, led by Judge Ashok Bhushan, approved the order after taking into account the recommendations of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to refund ticket fees and also approved a credit scheme that will be valid until March 31st.
The ruling applies to reservations made for both national and international banknotes during the period.
Those who bought tickets through travel agents can collect the refund amount from them once the money is credited to their account, the court said.
Airlines have been given time to refund the amount to passengers by March 31 next year, he said. But reservations made during the lockdown for travel during the lockdown must be immediately refunded “as airlines were not supposed to book such tickets,” the court said.
“If a passenger booked a ticket during the blackout period (March 25 to May 24) to travel during the blackout period and the airline has received payment for the reservation of the air ticket to travel during the same period, both for domestic and international air travel and If the passenger requests a refund against the cancellation of the reservation, the airline will refund the total amount charged without any cancellation fee.The refund will be made within a period of three weeks from the date of cancellation, according to the order.
“In such a refund, the agent will immediately pass the amount on to the passengers,” he said.
“For those who made reservations before the lockdown for a period until May 24, the repayment will be governed by the shell credit scheme and the incentives under it,” the court ruled.
The refund amount for tickets purchased to travel after May 24 will be governed by Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), he said.
“Even for international travel, when the tickets have been booked on an Indian airline and the reservation is outside of India, if the tickets were booked during the blackout period for travel within the blackout period, an immediate refund will be made,” the asked said.
“If the tickets are booked for international travel on a foreign airline and the booking is outside of India during the blocking period for travel within the blocking period, the airlines will grant a full refund and such amount will be immediately transferred by the agent to passengers, wherever said tickets are booked through agents. In all other cases the airline will reimburse the passenger for the amount charged within three weeks, “he added.
The court has requested the Ministry of Civil Aviation to issue a notification of compliance in the matter.
The credit shell issued in the passenger’s name can be used until March 31, 2021, the bank said, adding that the airline in question and the airline in question will respect such a transfer by designing a mechanism to facilitate such a transfer.
“In all cases where the credit shell is issued, there will be an incentive to compensate the passenger from the date of cancellation until June 30, 2020, in which case the credit shell will be increased by 0.5 per percent of the face value for each month or part of it between the cancellation date and June 30, 2020. Thereafter, the value of the credit shell will increase by 0.75 percent of the face value per month until on March 31, 2021, “he said.
The court also made it clear that said credit agent can be used by the agent in question through which the ticket is purchased, for the use of third parties.
The order came in a batch of petitions seeking reimbursement of airfare to passengers whose flights were canceled due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
With inputs from agencies
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