New Delhi:
Airlines will have to refund money collected on tickets canceled following the coronavirus-induced lockdown without any cancellation fees, the Supreme Court said today. The bench of three judges, headed by Judge Ashok Bhushan, adopted the order after taking into account the recommendations of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to reimburse the price of tickets and also approved a shell system credit that will be valid until March 31.
The judgment applies to reservations made for national and international tickets during the period.
Those who have purchased tickets through travel agents can collect the refund amount from them once the money is credited to their account, the court said.
Airlines have had time to reimburse the amount to passengers by March 31 of next year, he said. But reservations made during the lockdown to travel during the lockdown must be refunded immediately “because the airlines were not supposed to book such tickets,” the court said.
“If a passenger has booked a ticket during the lockout period (March 25 to May 24) to travel during the lockout period and the airline has received payment for booking an airline ticket for travel during the same period, for national and international air travel and the refund is requested by the passenger in the event of cancellation of the reservation, the airline will refund the full amount collected without any cancellation fees The refund will be made within a period of three weeks from the date of cancellation, specifies the order.
“Upon such reimbursement, the amount will be immediately passed on by the agent to the passengers,” he said.
“For those who made reservations prior to the lockdown for a period of up to May 24, reimbursement would be governed by the shell credit system and the incentives that flow from it,” the court said.
The reimbursement amount for tickets purchased to travel on dates after May 24 would be governed by Civil Aviation (CAR) requirements, he said.
“Even for international travel, when tickets have been booked on an Indian carrier and the booking is ex-India, if the tickets were booked during the lockdown period to travel during the lockdown period, an immediate refund will be issued. “, the command told me.
“If the tickets are booked for international travel on a foreign carrier and the booking is made outside India during the lock-in period for travel during the lock-out period, the full refund will be given by the airlines and said amount will be immediately passed on by the agent. to passengers, regardless of where these tickets are booked through agents. In all other cases, the airline will refund the amount collected to the passenger within a period of three weeks, ”he added.
The court asked 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 bench said, adding that the affected airline and the affected airline will honor such a transfer by devising 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% of the face value for each month or part of it between the date of cancellation and June 30, 2020. Thereafter, the value of the credit shell will be increased by 0.75% of the face value per month until March 31, 2021 “, he said.
The court also clarified that this credit envelope can be used by the relevant agent through whom the ticket is purchased, for use by a third party.
The order came on a batch of petitions asking for plane ticket reimbursements to passengers whose flights were canceled due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
With contributions from agencies
