NEW DELHI: Airlines will now provide a ‘view option’ within 48 hours of booking a ticket, during which travelers can cancel or amend their tickets without paying any additional charges (other than fare difference) if the departure date for domestic and international flights is at least 7 days and 15 days respectively. Airlines will need to ensure refunds are made within 14 days and will no longer charge any fees for name corrections made within 24 hours of booking on their website.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised refund rules from Thursday and introduced passenger-friendly measures, which is usually a painful process for travelers. “If the ticket is purchased through a travel agent/portal, the responsibility for refund shall lie with the airline as the agent is its appointed representative. Airlines should ensure that the refund process is completed within 14 working days,” said the revised rules issued by DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai.Another amendment introduced in the rules reads: “If the ticket is canceled due to medical emergency and the passenger or family member listed on the same PNR is admitted/hospitalized during the trip, the airline may provide refund or credit. For all other cases, the refund will be issued once the opinion of the airline’s aviation medical expert/DGCA designated aviation medical expert on the passenger’s fitness to travel certificate is received.”The regulator stipulates that if a passenger books a ticket directly through an airline website and points out an error within 24 hours of booking, the airline is not allowed to charge additional correction fees in the name of the same person.Regarding the 48-hour lock-in period, the revised rules state: “During this period, passengers can cancel or modify their tickets without paying any additional fees, except for the normal prevailing fare of the modified flight for which the ticket modification is requested. When booking tickets directly through the airline website, this service is not applicable to flights departing less than 7 days (domestic flights) and international flights less than 15 days from the date of booking. After 48 hours have elapsed from the original booking time, this option is not available and passengers must pay the relevant modification cancellation fees. “The regulator admitted the move was an attempt to make the process more passenger-friendly: “Airline ticket refund issues have become a major source of passenger dissatisfaction.” Most of the complaints related to: Delays in refunding unused tickets; Refund amounts for canceled tickets; Not refunding the ticket amount, but requiring passengers to use the money to rebook within a stipulated time.“While the government has promised not to interfere in the commercial practices of airlines, the volume of complaints has necessitated some affirmative action to safeguard the interest of the traveling public. The matter has been discussed in several meetings with the airlines, but there has been no improvement in the ticket refund system adopted by the airlines. It is now considered that it is the responsibility of the government to fix some minimum benchmarks as far as refund policies are concerned to curb the growing passenger dissatisfaction with the refund process adopted by some airlines,” the regulator said.
