Revised civil aviation rules: Cancellation fee not more than base fare + fuel levy

“This provision (of refunding statutory taxes) shall also be applicable for all types of fares offered including promos/special fares and where the basic fare is non-refundable,” the DGCA said. As per the existing rules, carriers were required to refund only PSF collected by them in case of cancellation.

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In the cancellation rules first proposed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation last month, the government had capped airlines’ cancellation charges at the base fare, but in final rules notified on Tuesday, the carriers can also deduct fuel surcharge. The new rules kicked in with the issuance of revised Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) by DGCA chief M Sathiyavathy on Tuesday.

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet, for instance, levies a fee of Rs 2,250 per passenger per sector per change for any change/cancellation. IndiGo also levies charges of Rs 2,250 for any change/cancellation up to 2 hours before scheduled departure and more than 4 hours for international flights.

These cancellation charges are now set to drop to the level of base fare plus fuel surcharge and the airlines will have to refund all statutory taxes.

The government also barred airlines from imposing refund processing fee, which is Rs 200 per ticket for most airlines on domestic sector. To ensure more transparency, carriers would also be required to indicate the refund amount in case of cancellations. The amount and its break-up may be indicated on the ticket itself or through separate form used for the purpose. Also, the policy and amount of refund shall be displayed by the airlines on their respective websites, DGCA said.

“Airline shall not levy any additional charge for correction in name of the same person, when error in his name spelling is pointed out by the passenger to the airline after booking of his ticket,” the regulator said. For tickets booked through travel agents or portal, the onus of refund would be on the airlines and the refund has to be completed within 30 days. At present, in cases of ticket purchases from travel agents, the arrangement for refund is left to the passenger and the travel agent.

Further, passengers can choose whether the refund money should be kept in the airline’s credit shell or not. “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,” it noted. In the case of foreign carriers operating to and from India, the refund process would be in accordance with regulations of their country of origin.