No Cancellation Fee if Flight Ticket Cancelled Within 24 Hours After Booking: Aviation Ministry's Draft Passenger Charter
"If a flight is cancelled and it is the airlines' fault, then the passenger has to be compensated or ticket has to be refunded," Sinha said.
New Delhi, May 22: As per the Draft Passenger Charter being prepared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, no cancellation charge would be levied if the flight ticket is cancelled within 24 hours after the booking.
The Charter also lists out steps to improve the passenger-experience, ranging from full-refund in case of massive flight delays to add-on benefits in case the carriers fail to adhere to the schedule.
If the flight gets delayed by more than 4 hours, the passenger will have the option of claiming full refund, the charter said. In case the delay lasts overnight, the airlines will remain duty-bound to arrange for the passenger's accomodation at a hotel.
The Aviation Ministry has also decided to impose a fine on airlines if their non-adherence to the schedule leads to the passenger missing his connecting flight. The quantum of fine could be as high as Rs 20,000.
The Federation of Indian Airlines - an industry body comprising of IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and Go Air - have opposed the recommendations made in the charter, calling it detrimental towards the interests of the carriers.
On fine proposed in case the passenger misses the connecting flight, the Federation said the airlines cannot be held liable for any journey beyond what is printed on ticket.
On other recommendations made by the Aviation Ministry, the industry body claims the airlines should not be blamed when the fault lines exist in the infrastructure provided by the government.
The fines, along with full-refunds, proposed by the charter would lead to "massive loss", the Federation of Indian Airlines said, adding that the carriers are already pressed to raise the fares due to the rocketing fuel price.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2018 03:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).