Passengers who booked air tickets before the lockdown for flights cancelled due to the freeze on domestic travel till May 24 are eligible for refund through credit shell, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clarified in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
These passengers can take advantage of the government’s proposed credit shell and incentive policy for air travellers.
This policy entails airlines to open credit shells in the names of passengers. Passengers can use the credit shell to fly any route. The credit is transferable. If the credit is not used, the ticket amount has to be mandatorily returned to passenger by March 31, 2021. Passengers are also entitled to the incentive of an increase of 0.75% in the value of their shells if the credit remains untouched till March 31, 2021.
“Passengers who have booked tickets prior to lockdown for travel up to May 24, 2020 (as the calibrated domestic operation recommenced from May 25, 2020) — refund of fares to the passengers covered under this category shall be governed by the proposed formulation related to credit shell and incentive scheme,” an affidavit filed by the DGCA jointly for itself and the Civil Aviation Ministry said.
The policy is aimed to balance passengers’ interests with bringing the distressed airline sector back on its feet.
The court is scheduled to hear the case filed by NGO Pravasi Legal Cell, represented by advocate Jose Abraham, on September 23.
However, passengers who had booked tickets during the lockdown for travel during the lockdown are entitled to an immediate refund, the affidavit said.
“Passengers covered under this category shall be entitled for immediate refund of the fare by the airline as the airlines were not supposed to book such tickets,” it explained.
The DGCA further clarified that for “passengers who had booked tickets at any period of time, but for travel after May 24, 2020, refund shall be governed by the provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements”.
The affidavit was in response to a query in the Supreme Court during the previous hearing on September 9 as to whether the DGCA proposal to refund air tickets was confined to only flight bookings made during the lockdown.
