Consumer affairs ministry to crackdown on refund ‘nexus’ in Indian aviation

livemint.com:

Mint. Earlier, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), a regulatory body established under the Act, had helped facilitate refunds totalling ₹1,453 crore on air tickets booked via travel aggregators such as Yatra, MakeMyTrip, ClearTrip, EaseMyTrip, Ixigo and Thomas Cook, as Mint reported on 10 March.

To be sure, the consumer affairs ministry plans holding consultations with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the ministry of civil aviation to hasten processing of such refunds, one of the officials said. “This initiative is crucial for consumers as many struggle a lot to get their money back after flights get cancelled or delayed, often facing an annoying cycle of excuses from airlines," this official said.

“It’s one of the top priorities of the ministry of civil aviation and the ministry is working towards a structured solution," civil aviation secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam told Mint in an emailed reply. The consumer affairs ministry and the director general of civil aviation did not reply to queries emailed on 23 August.

Emails sent to IndiGo and Vistara on 25 August remained unanswered. As per the DGCA’s guidelines, airlines are required to issue refunds within seven working days for tickets booked through credit or debit cards, and within 30 working days for cash transactions.

If flight tickets are booked through travel agents or online travel platforms, airlines must process the refund to the agent or platform within seven working days, after which the agent or platform is responsible for refunding the passenger. But the consumer affairs ministry was impelled to address the issue of delayed refunds on airfares after reviewing complaints mounting at the National Consumer Helpline, a