Flight ticket cancellation at no cost soon? What big changes has DGCA proposed

PAssengers may presently be allowed to offset or qualify their flight of steps tickets without incurring duplicate charges within 48 hours of booking, with proposed changes to the ticket refund rules by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). While inviting feedback until November 30, the DGCA’s move comes after increasing passenger grievances over delays in refunds and overdue charges.In the draft regulations, reported earlier by HT, the DGCA said that even though the government is “committed not to interfere in the commercial practices of the airlines, the volume of the complaints necessitates some affirmative action to safeguard the interest of the travelling public.”DGCA’s proposed changesHere’s a look at what could change for you:Airlines should provide a “look-in option” for a period of 48 hours after a ticket is booked. During this period, passengers will be allowed to cancel or alter their tickets without incurring additional charges, except for any fare difference for the revised flight.The facility would not be available for a flight departing within five days for domestic flights and 15 days for international flights when the ticket is booked directly through the airline’s website. “Beyond 48 hours of the initial booking time, this option is not available, and the passenger has to pay the relevant cancellation fees for amendments,” the draft said.In cases of payments made through credit cards, airlines would be required to process the refund within seven days of cancellation back to the source account. Meanwhile, for cash payments, refunds are to be provided immediately at the airline office where the ticket was purchased.If tickets are booked through travel agents or portals, the airlines would be responsible for issuing the refunds, as agents act as their representatives. All such refunds must be processed within 21 working days.No airline would charge any additional fees to process refunds.Statutory taxes and fees, including the User Development Fee, Airport Development Fee, and Passenger Service Fee, will also be refunded in the event of user cancellation, non-utilisation, or no-show. Notably, this also includes promotional and special fares, even if the basic fare is non-refundable.Airlines would not incur extra charges for the correction of names of the same passenger if an error is found within 24 hours of booking on the airline’s website.Passengers will be allowed to hold the refund as a credit shell, which would be optional only and not set as the default by the airline.In cases of medical emergencies, airlines would be allowed to issue a refund or provide a credit shell for ticket cancellations.In the case of foreign carriers operating to or from India, tickets should be refunded according to their home country's rules.