On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered airlines to reimburse passengers who had to cancel airline tickets booked during a two-month nationwide lockdown. A bench of three judges, headed by Judge Ashok Bhushan, said that for cancellation of travel reservations after the blackout period, airlines must grant refunds within 15 days of the order. If carriers are in financial distress, they can grant a credit to the fliers that can be redeemed until March 31, 2021, the court added.
The superior court order will apply to reservations made for both domestic and international tickets during the period.
This is what the Supreme Court said:
1) If a passenger booked an air ticket during the blackout period (March 25 to May 24) to travel during the blackout period and the airline has received payment for the air ticket reservation to travel during the same period , both for national and international flights. If the passenger requests the trip and refund against cancellation of the reservation, the airline will refund the total amount charged without any cancellation fee. The refund will be made within three weeks from the date of cancellation, depending on the order.
2) If the tickets have been booked during the blackout period through a travel agent for travel within the blackout period, in all such cases, the airlines will immediately grant a full refund. In such a refund, the agent will immediately pass the amount on to the passengers, the court said.
3) “If due to financial problems, an airline or airlines cannot do so, they must provide a credit guarantee, equivalent to the amount of the fare charged, in the name of the passenger when the reservation is made directly by the passenger or through a travel agent to consume the same on or before March 31, 2021. The passenger can use said credit deposit until March 31, 2021 on any route of their choice or the passenger can transfer the Shell credit to anyone, including the agent of travel through whoever booked the ticket and the airlines will respect said transfer, “the order said.
4) 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. The court also made it clear that said loan agent can be used by the interested agent through which the ticket is purchased, for the use of third parties.
In cases where tickets are booked through an agent, the credit deposit issued in the passenger’s name that is not used before March 31, 2021, the refund of the fare charged will be made in the same account of the which the airline received the amount of the bill. .
5) “In all cases in which 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% 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% of the face value per month until March 31, 2021, “the order reads.
6) The Bank said that passengers who booked tickets in any time period except to travel after May 24, the reimbursement of fares to passengers covered under this category will be governed by the provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR ).
7) “Even for international travel, when the tickets have been booked on an Indian airline and the booking 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 “. said the order.
8) “If the tickets are booked for international travel on a foreign airline and the reservation is outside of India during the blackout period for travel within the blackout period, the airlines will grant a full refund and such amount will be transferred immediately by the agent to passengers, wherever said tickets are booked through agents. In all other cases, the airline will refund the amount charged to the passenger within three weeks, “he added.
9) The court has requested the Ministry of Civil Aviation to issue a notification of compliance in the matter.
10) The blockade, imposed on March 25, prohibited national and international travel in the country. Domestic flight services in India were restarted on May 25 in a limited phase.
.
