One year on, many flyers yet to get refunds from airlines
Despite apex court order, passengers are still trying to get back money for cancelled flights
Ahmedabad-based Viral Patel and his wife were on their way to the Andamans last December on a GoAir flight when they were redirected to Chennai after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) notified the airport authorities in Port Blair that GoAir was supposed to operate a cargo flight, not a passenger one.
Patel is still waiting to receive 50% of the refund amount. “While the airline refunded for the one-way trip, which I had booked on its website, I am yet to get a refund for the other half of the journey, which was booked through a travel agent," he added.
And, Patel is not alone. One year on, many air passengers are yet to get back refunds for cancelled flights following the covid-induced lockdown. The delay, passengers said, was both from airlines as well as ticketing agents. Airlines have, however, denied this.
“While the airline is saying that it has released the refund, the travel agent says that he hasn’t got any," said Patel, adding that 3-4 Ahmedabad-based couples, who travelled with him on the GoAir flight, have not received a portion of refunds.
Last September, the Supreme Court had directed airlines to immediately make full refunds for cancelled flights from 25 March to 24 May, the period of the nationwide lockdown, which was imposed by the government to contain the pandemic. The refunds were to be made by 31 March 2021, the apex court had said.
And, most airlines claimed that they have completed the refund process.
A GoAir spokesperson said the airline has complied with the apex court ruling pertaining to the refunds.
An IndiGo spokesperson said it has completed the refund process. In March, the airline had said it refunded about ₹1,030 crore to customers to comply with the apex court order.
However, many passengers claimed that they had not received the refunds. For instance, Harish P., a resident of Mumbai, said he had booked his return flight in March 2020 on Air India to Varanasi, but despite repeated reminders, the state-owned airline has not refunded the money. This, when the DGCA guidelines directed airlines to give a full and immediate refund to passengers for the cancelled flights.
“Over 90% of our refunds are done. The situation is not unique to us and is an industry issue including for the state carrier," said a SpiceJet spokesperson.
A Vistara spokesperson said it was in compliance with the SC order.
AirAsia India said in a statement that it has processed refunds for 99% of the over 240,000 PNRs impacted due to cancelled flights, and the amounts were processed to the original source—the passenger’s account or credit card, or returned to the online or offline travel agent. “For the remaining 1% guests, we reached out repeatedly through email and SMSes on contact details registered with us, but we are still awaiting certain details, such as bank account information."
A spokesperson for Air India was not available for comments.
When contacted, a senior official at an online travel platform said that while most airlines have made refunds for cancelled flights during the lockdown period, and flights since then, a few issues relating to refunds have cropped up and such cases were stuck with airlines like Air India and SpiceJet.
“These should be cleared soon," he said requesting anonymity.
rhik.k@livemint.com
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!