New Delhi: There is relief in store for air travellers if new rules proposed by the government manage to be implemented. In order to rein in the unchecked flight cancellation charges, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has told airlines that such fees cannot exceed base fares. In other words, anything collected over the base fare must be returned to the customer.
According to a report in The Economic Times, DGCA has already held discussions with airlines on the new rules, which will be announced soon. As per the new norms, all charges levied by booking sites will also need to be included within the new limit.
"There have been instances, where the cancellation fee exceeds the total fare charged and the passenger does not get anything when the ticket is cancelled," ET quoted a senior official as saying.
The cancellation charges that prevail can be quite steep. For instance, a Delhi-Mumbai ticket booked through a travel site on June 7 costs Rs 2,419 with a base fare of Rs 1,559. If it's cancelled, the passenger gets just Rs 404 back, with the rest deducted as penalty.
Budget carrier IndiGo had in April done away with the slab system for charging ticket cancellation fee and made it uniform at Rs 2,250.
National carrier Air India too had in February effected a hike of Rs 500 for cancelling its flight tickets, which now stands at Rs 2,000 per ticket.
The Civil Aviation Ministry is likely to announce soon new norms for ticket cancellation, baggage and denied boarding, amid the increasing number of complaints on these issues.At present a passengers gets between Rs 2,000-4,00 depending upon the duration of the delay.
In the case of denied boarding also, the compensation ranges in the same amount,
“We are revisiting regulations concerning these issues,” a senior official said.
The revamped norms are expected to be made public soon, the official added.
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