All flight tickets booked for travel between March 23 to May 5 will be fully refunded: DGCA to SC

The Air Passengers Association of India had filed a plea alleging that the air carriers have not only failed to refund the ticket amount but also “illegally imposing” the mechanism of ‘credit shell’ on unwilling passengers, said a Times Now report.

"Non-refund of air tickets booked during lockdown and creation of involuntary credit shell by airlines is a violation of Civil Aviation Requirements and provisions of the Aircraft Rules of 1937," DGCA told the Supreme Court, reported Times Now.

The three-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan had sent notices to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) seeking their reply on the plea.

The Air Passengers Association of India in the plea said opting for ‘credit shell’ is the sole discretion of the passengers and refusal to refund the fare is arbitrary and in complete violation of the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR).

"It is submitted that the airlines are illegally imposing the mechanism of 'credit shell' on the unwilling passengers. The concept refers to a form of credit note which can be used to make a new booking with the same airline for a period so provided by the airline, usually of one year, as is being offered by most of the airlines," said the plea, filed through advocate Rohit Rathi, the Times Now report said.

The plea also demanded that the refunds should be made without levying the cancellation charges for all the tickets booked during the first lockdown period for travel during the second lockdown period from April 15 to May 3.

Despite the directives by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA, the airline failed to refund the fares.

The airlines went on to resume bookings from the first week of April for travel after April 14 anticipating that the nationwide lockdown to curb Covid19 would be lifted and after the lockdown was extended, the airlines had to defer the flights.

It is to be noted that domestic flight operations were allowed to resume from May 25 with limited capacity after a halt of two months. On Wednesday last, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said domestic flights can fly with 60% occupancy instead of the 40% ordered earlier.