No penalty for cancelling flight tickets within 48 hours of buying: DGCA

PAssengers testament be able-bodied to set off or amend flight of stairs tickets without penalty within 48 hours of purchase, and testament no longer be forced into credit shells when seeking refunds, under revised norms issued by India’s civil aviation regulator.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) revised ticket refund norms for airlines, mandating a 48-hour “look-in option” allowing passengers to cancel or amend flight tickets without additional charges after booking.The regulator’s revised Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), Section 3, Air Transport, Series ‘M’ Part II dated February 24, 2026, stated, “The airline shall provide ‘Look-in option’ for a period of 48 hours after booking a ticket. During this period passengers can cancel or amend the ticket without any additional charges, except for the normal prevailing fare for the revised flight for which the ticket is sought to be amended.”However, the CAR clarified that the facility will not be available “for a flight whose departure is less than 7 days for domestic flight and 15 days for international flight from the booking date when the ticket is booked directly through an airline website.”For passengers booking well in advance, this effectively creates a cooling-off window — particularly useful for mistaken bookings, sudden plan changes, or fare drops spotted soon after purchase.The amended norms will come into effect from March 26, 2026.The DGCA also addressed a long-standing grievance regarding airlines automatically converting refunds into credit shells. The revised norm states that “the option of holding the refund amount in credit shells by the airlines shall be the prerogative of the passenger and not a default practice of the airline,” favouring passengers who prefer money back rather than airline credits.The revised refund norms also state that “the airlines shall not levy any additional charge to process the refund.”“In case of purchase of a ticket through travel agent/portal, onus of refund shall lie with the airlines as agents are their appointed representatives. The airlines shall ensure that the refund process is completed within 14 working days,” it stated.The regulator has also offered flexibility in medical emergency situations. “In the event of ticket cancellations due to a medical emergency, where the passenger or a family member listed on the same PNR gets admitted/hospitalized during the travel period, airlines may provide either a refund or a credit shell,” the amended rule stated.“For all other situations, refunds will be issued once an opinion on the passenger’s fitness-to-travel certificate is received from an airline’s Aerospace Medicine specialist/DGCA-empanelled Aerospace Medicine specialist,” it said.The DGCA said the revised norms will apply to scheduled domestic and international operators as well as foreign carriers operating to and from India.