The Directorate General of Civil Aviation or the DGCA has issued fresh directions on the refund of airline tickets booked for travel during the coronavirus pandemic. The DGCA Circular comes as an aftermath to the judgment by the Supreme Court in the case of Pravasi Legal Cell & Ors. v.UOI & Ors., wherein the apex court directed refund to passengers for the airline tickets cancelled between March 25 and May 24, 2020.
As against the earlier circular which only allowed refunds if the tickets were booked during lockdown, the latest circular provides relief to all travelers regardless of when they booked their tickets.
The above-mentioned judgment was passed in a writ petition filed against the memorandum issued by Ministry of Civil Aviation (DT Section) dated 16.04.2020. In the circular, detailed information about the refund was provided however the same was restricted to tickets booked ‘during the lockdown’ with absolutely no relief to travelers who had booked their tickets prior to the lockdown. Further, the Airlines operating domestic as well as international flights in India, were not refunding the full amount collected for the tickets, due to the cancellation of flights in the wake of restrictions imposed by the Government of India to contain COVID-19. This action was considered as arbitrary and in violation of Civil Aviation Requirements, issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and a relief against it was sought. To this relief as asked, the Supreme Court directed immediate refund and the directions have been carried over in the circular under discussion.
Within 6 days of the judgment, the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued detailed guidelines, where refund seekers have been categorized in to three:
- Passenger who booked tickets for travel from 25 Mar, 2020 to 24 May, 2020, i.e. during lockdown: The passengers falling in this category will be refunded the full amount by the concerned airline without any cancellation charges.
- Passengers who booked tickets prior the declaration of lockdown but journey up to 24th may 2020, however cancelled due to COVID-19: The passengers falling under the 2nd category also will be paid the full amount and the concerned airlines should “make all endeavors” to refund the amount within 15 days. And if by any chance, due to financial stress during this pandemic, the concerned airlines fail to refund, they will provide the passengers a ‘credit shell’ equal to the amount of the ticket which will be valid till 31 March, 2021. The value of the credit shell shall be enhanced by 0.75% of the face value per month up to 31 March, 2020. If the air tickets are booked by any agent, refunds will be done to the agent only.
- Passengers booked tickets anytime for journey after 24th May, 2020: The passengers falling under the 3rd category shall be paid in accordance to the provisions of applicable civil Aviation Requirements (CAR).
The above-mentioned categories apply to both domestic as well as international airline ticket holders.
For international travel, tickets booked on Indian Carrier and the booking is ex-India immediate refund will be provided to them. The ex-India bookings done on a foreign carrier, the refund will be provided within a period of three weeks.
Corrida Legal is one of the top law firms in India and the author of this article is Pushkar Thakur, Managing Partner, Corrida Legal. Pushkar is an ex AVP, Legal, Nomura and has led the legal teams at corporates namely Emaar India and Drake & Scull India. He represents clients before all major courts of India and has worked with Kochhar & Co., law firm. Pushkar is an expert in corporate law, contracts, litigation, employment law and data protection. Reach out to him on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pushkarthakurcorridalegal/ or pushkar.thakur@corridalegal.com. In case of urgent issues, you may call him at +91-8826680614.