DGCA announces comprehensive refund guidelines post SC verdict

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), aviation regulator, has released the comprehensive guidelines on Wednesday about the refund of the air tickets issued for travel during the Covid-19 triggered lockdown which were canceled later.

The guidelines were announced almost a week post the Supreme Court (SC) had ordered for giving a full and immediate refund to the passengers having air tickets scheduled in the period from March 25 and May 24, which were called off here were no flights operational during that period.

Three categories for refunding the amount

According to the instructions given by the court, the DGCA have bifurcated three categories- passengers who booked ticket from March 25 to May 24 for a travel scheduled in the same period, passengers who had priorly booked the tickets before March 25 and travel was scheduled till May 24 and the passengers who booked for the journey after May 24.

The first category will be given a complete refund by the respective airlines. DGCA stated that the airlines should “make all endeavours” for refunding the amount to the passengers coming under the second category in a period of 15 days.

“If on account of financial stress, any airline/airlines are not able to do so, they shall provide a credit shell equal to the amount of fare collected (to the passenger),” the statement further added. With this, the passengers could utilize the credit amount for booking any ticket till March 2021.

The third category will be given a refund as per the norms of DGCA. The Indian Airlines industry has been severely affected by the Coronavirus triggered pandemic, which has resulted in a severe financial crisis, thereby invoking the airlines company to opt for cost-cutting measures like layoffs and leave without pay fir the staff.