New Delhi, September 6: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday informed the Supreme Court that tickets booked by passengers in domestic and international carriers for air travel during the first two phases of lockdown between March 25 and May 3, 2020, will be "fully refunded". The Centre proposed that a full refund should be given by the airlines within 15 days for tickets booked during the lockdown.

In an affidavit in the Supreme Court, OK Gupta, Director DGCA said for the domestic airlines if the tickets were booked directly with the airline or through an agent, during the first lockdown period, - March 25 - April 14 - for the journeys to be undertaken in both first and second lockdown period, March 25 - May 3 - in all such cases, full refund shall be given by the airlines immediately.  DGCA Asks Airlines to Refund Flight Tickets, Booked During First Phase of Lockdown For Dates in Second Phase, on Request of Costumers Without Charging Cancellation Fees.

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According to the affidavit, for all other cases, the airlines shall make all endeavours to refund the collected amount to the passenger within 15 days. The DGCA said that if on account of financial distress, if the airlines are not able to do so, they shall provide a credit shell equal to the amount of fare collected. The passenger shall be able to consume the credit shell up to March 31, 2021. Ban on International Flights to & From India Extended Till September 30 Apart From Exceptions Mentioned by Government.

The Centre said that there should be an incentive mechanism to compensate the passenger if there is a delay in consuming the credit shell - from the date of cancellation up to June 30, 2020. In this case, the value of a credit shell shall be enhanced by 0.5 percent of the face value.

The affidavit said, "Thereafter, the value of the credit shell shall be enhanced by 0.75 per cent of the face value per month, up to March 2021. The credit shell shall be transferable. The passenger can transfer the credit shell to any person, and the airlines shall honour such a transfer. The airlines shall devise a mechanism to facilitate such a transfer. By the end of March 2021, the airline shall refund cash to the holder of the credit shell." Advocate Jose Abraham, representing petitioner Pravasi Legal Cell, said, "Petitioner happily welcomes the stand of the central government directing full refund for all tickets (domestic, international and foreign carriers)."

Flights have been suspended in India since March 25, the day when the Narendra Modi government imposed the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19. Notably, domestic flight services were resumed on May 25. However, international flight services have still not restarted in the country due to coronavirus.

(With inputs from IANS)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 06, 2020 07:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).