You Can Now Cancel Air Tickets Without Paying Extra Within 48 Hours Of Booking | DGCA Updates Rules

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has updated air ticket refund norms. Flyers can now cancel or amend airline tickets within 48 hours of booking.

The provision of free cancellation or amendment will not be available for a flight whose departure is less than seven days for domestic flight and 15 days for international flight from booking date when ticket is booked directly through airline website. Beyond 48 hours of initial booking time, this option is not available and the passenger has to pay the relevant cancellation fees for amendment.

The aviation watchdog has also stated that airlines shall not levy any additional charge for correction in name of a person when the error is pointed out by the passenger within 24 hours of making the booking, when ticket is booked directly through airline website.

Further, 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/hospitalised during the travel period, airlines will provide either a refund or a credit shell. 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.

The rules have been updated by the DGCA to make air travel friendlier for passengers. The DGCA noted, “The issue of refund of tickets by airlines has become a major source of grievance amongst airline passengers.” It noted that it had been regularly receiving large number of complaints in three categories:

1. Delay in refund of unused tickets
2. The amount which is refunded by the airlines against cancelled tickets.
3. Policy of not to refund the ticket amount but to adjust against tickets to be purchased by the passenger for future travel in the same airline that too valid for a limited period of time.

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