Air Passengers can now rejoice since the Supreme Court has ordered something in their favour. As per the latest Supreme court orders, airlines have to refund the passengers who had to cancel the tickets during the two-month-long national lockdown.
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Airlines Have To Refund The Full Amount Within 15 Days Of The SC Order
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said that airlines have to refund the cancellation amount within 15 days of the order. If the carriers are in financial debt and cannot pay all the passengers, they have to provide a credit to the flyers that can be used until March 31, 2021.
Airlines Unable To Refund Amount Will Provide Credit To The Passengers
Passengers can then use that credit and reschedule their travels accordingly. If passengers don’t redeem the credit to reschedule their flights by March 31, airlines will then have to refund the amount with additional interest. In terms of interest, passengers will get 0.5 per cent monthly interest on paid airfare from the date of the cancelled flight to June 30. And 0.75 per cent monthly interest from June 30 to March 31, 2021. It means that if patrons had booked tickets during the lockdown for either domestic or international travel from March 25 to May 24, they are entitled to full airfare refund within 3-weeks of cancellation of the flight.
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This move has come into play after the court heard several petitions asking for a full refund of airfare for flights cancelled due to the lockdown.
Refund For Passengers Booking After May 24 Will Be Governed By Provisions Of Civil Aviation Requirements
If passengers took help from agents to book the tickets, a full refund would be given by the airline to the agents. The agents are then required to pass the amount to the passengers. However, these rules are not for everyone. Refund rules for passengers booking tickets for travel after May 24 will be governed by provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR).
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While petitioners Pravasi Legal Cell and Air Passengers Association of India asked for an immediate and full refund of airfares, airlines mentioned their financial condition to allow the transfer of paid airfare into a credit shell for future use.