CHENNAI: Anuradha (35) and her three-year old child booked a ticket on an Air Vistara flight from Delhi to Chennai on March 22. Since the national lockdown was announced, the mother and child could not travel and Air Vistara did not refund the ticket.
The airlines instead of providing the full refund of the amount collected for the tickets due to cancellation, provided a credit shell, valid up to one year.
R M Kapur, Executive director of Admiralty Marine Services and father of Anuradha says that following the assurances, the date was later postponed to June 27 hoping that Covid-19 pandemic will ease off by
that time. But as the day was approaching, there was a lockdown in Noida and the itinerary was postponed to August 26 hoping the pandemic will ease off again.
As the Covid-19 cases have been mounting in Chennai and fearing whether the child would be able to travel with a mask on for five hours, Kapur wants the travel to be postponed.
The airlines demanded rescheduling charges which goes against the usual norms of providing a credit shell of one year, says Kapur. "This is fleecing in these difficult times. Vistara is happily sitting over the customers money for over five months," says Kapur.
"They should have refunded the money in the first instance. But having the customer's neck in their hand, they forced us to keep postponing our travel even as there are no signs of Covid-19 cases easing." he says.
An Air Vistara spokesperson told The New Indian Express that the airlines had already given two reschedule waivers (as confirmed by the customer) and were ready to offer another. The team is already in
touch with Anuradha and may give her a full refund.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Centre and the airline companies have been asked by the Supreme Court to discuss modalities for full refund of tickets for domestic and international flights which were cancelled
following the COVID-19 lockdown.
A petition is also moved in the Supreme Court where it is submitted that the airlines instead of providing the full refund of the amount collected for the tickets due to cancellation, are providing a credit shell, valid up to one year, which is clear in violation of the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAV) of May 2008 issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The CAV clearly states that 'the option of holding the refund amount in credit shell by the airlines shall be the prerogative of the passenger and not a default practice of the airline.'
The office memorandum of the Ministry of Civil Aviation deals with refund of ticket amount collected without levy of cancellation charge and pertains to only those people who booked tickets during the
lockdown period thus leaving out people who booked tickets prior to lockdown but the flights cancelled due to lockdown.