Refund passengers who cancelled flights in Lockdown last year: Govt to Airlines

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) expressed dissatisfaction over airline companies defaulting on refunds to passengers over flight tickets that were booked for travel during the lockdown last year but got cancelled.

MoCA Secretary on Wednesday chaired a meeting with representatives of airlines in connection with refund of credit shells of passengers. A credit shell is a credit note created against a cancelled PNR and can be used by the passenger for a future booking.

"MoCA Secretary has chaired the meeting today with all the airline companies regarding credit shells refund and expressed dissatisfaction towards airline companies who did not refund the money. GoAir and IndiGo have submitted their undertaking to the ministry that they have refund all the credit shells to the passengers", an official told ANI.

The Supreme Court of India had ordered MoCA to clear all the credit shells and refund the passengers after the deadline of March 31.

Air Asia and Vistara is also yet clear the credit shell to the passengers. "We are thorough with all our refunds except in a very few cases where we are trying to reach out to the passengers to revert with their bank account details in which the money is to be credited." An Air Asia India official told ANI.

MoCA has to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court regarding the refund of credit shells. MoCA Secretary has shown dissatisfaction in the meeting over the airline companies' response in the meeting over refund on cancelled tickets.

The Supreme Court in October accepting a recommendation of the civil aviation ministry and directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) ordered airlines to refund passengers the cost of the tickets of flights cancelled between March 25 to May 24 last year, also approved a credit shell scheme which was valid till March 31, this year.

Source Link