Key Points :
- After taking into account the proposition of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to refund ticket fares,the Supreme Court today as of 2nd October said that airlines will have to rebate money collected from tickets that were cancelled following the coronavirus induced lockdown without any cancellation charge.
- The airlines have been given time to reimburse the amount to the customers by March 31 of the next year. But reservations made during lockdown for travelling during lockdown needs to be refunded immediately “as the airlines were not supposed to book such tickets,” the court said.
The Supreme Court today as of 2nd October said that airlines will have to rebate money collected from tickets that were cancelled following the coronavirus induced lockdown without any cancellation charge.
The three-judge Bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, passed the order after taking into account the proposition of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to refund ticket fares and also approved a credit shell scheme which will be valid till March 31.The order came on a batch of appeals seeking the refund of airfare to passengers whose flights were revoked due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
“If a passenger booked a ticket during the lockdown period from March 25 to May 24 for travel during lockdown period and the airline has received payment for booking of air ticket for travel during the same period, for both domestic and international air travel and refund is sought by the passenger against that booking being cancelled, the airline shall refund the full amount collected without any cancellation charges”.” For those who made bookings prior to lockdown for a period up till May 24, the refund would be governed by the credit shell scheme and the incentives thereunder,” the court said.
The refund shall be made within a period of three weeks from the date of cancellation, the order said.The verdict is applicable for bookings made for both domestic and international tickets during the time period.
Those who have procured tickets through travel agents can collect the refund amount from them once the money is credited back to their account, the court said.As per the court’s statement,”On such refund, the amount shall be passed on immediately by the agent to the passengers”.
The airlines have been given time to reimburse the amount to the customers by March 31 of the next year. But reservations made during lockdown for travelling during lockdown needs to be refunded immediately “as the airlines were not supposed to book such tickets,” the court said.
Refund amount for tickets bought for travelling on dates after May 24 would be governed by the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), it said.
“Even for international travel, when the tickets have been booked on an Indian carrier and the booking is ex-India, if the tickets have been booked during the lockdown period for travel within the lockdown period, immediate refund shall be made,” the order claimed.
It added,”If the tickets are booked for international travel on a international carrier and the booking is ex-India during the lockdown period for transit within the lockdown period, full refund shall be given by the airlines and said amount shall be passed on immediately by the agent to the passengers, wherever such tickets are booked through agents. In all other cases the airline shall refund the collected amount to the passenger within a period of three weeks.”
The court has asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation to issue agreement notification in the matter.The credit shell issued in the name of the passenger can be used upto March 31, 2021, the bench said, adding that the and the concerned airline shall credit such a transfer by devising a mechanism to facilitate such a transfer.
“In all cases where credit shell is issued there shall be an incentive to compensate the passenger from the date of cancellation upto June 30, 2020, in which event the credit shell shall be enhanced by 0.5 per cent of the face value for every month or part thereof between the date of cancellation and June 30, 2020. Thereafter the value of the credit shell shall be enhanced by 0.75 percent of the face value per month upto March 31, 2021,” it said.The court also made it clarion that such credit shell can be used by the involved agent through whom the ticket is procured, for third-party use.
