The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised air ticket refund norms, which will allow passengers to cancel or change air tickets without paying an additional charge within 48 hours of making the bookings, subject to certain conditions.
Under the amended Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for refund of airline tickets, airlines must offer a 48-hour “look-in option” during which passengers can cancel or amend bookings without penalty, apart from any fare difference on the revised flight.
In a statement, the DGCA said, in case of purchase of a ticket through a travel agent or portal, the onus of refund shall lie with the airlines, as agents are their appointed representatives. It said that the airlines shall ensure that the refund process is completed within 14 working days.
However, these exemptions will not be available for a flight whose departure is less than seven days for domestic flight and 15 days for international flight from booking date when ticket is booked directly through airline website, the DGCA stated.
“Beyond 48 hours of initial booking time, this option would not be available and the passenger would have to pay the relevant cancellation fees for amendment,” the DGCA said.
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The revised norms also address medical emergencies. If a passenger or a family member on the same PNR is hospitalised during the travel period, airlines may offer either a refund or a credit shell. In other cases, refunds will be processed after assessment by an airline’s or DGCA-empanelled aerospace medicine specialist regarding the passenger’s fitness to travel.
“For all other situations, refunds will be issued once an opinion on the passenger’s fitness to travel certificate is received from an airline’s Aerospace Medicine specialist/ DGCA empanelled Aerospace Medicine specialist,” it said.
