Air Ticket Booking Update: There is relief news for the customers who have been waiting to get refund from online air travel booking companies for more than three years.
The Central Government has ordered these portals to immediately refund the money of the consumers who booked air tickets on online travel related air ticket booking portals during the lockdown period imposed during the Corona epidemic. The government has ordered to issue refunds by the end of the third week of November.
During the first phase of the Corona epidemic, a lockdown was imposed in the country from March 25, 2020 to prevent it. During this period, domestic and international commercial flights were canceled till the month of May to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs held a meeting with companies providing online air ticket booking facilities on Wednesday 8 November 2023 to discuss the issues adversely impacting consumer interests. The issue of not returning consumers’ money was also raised in this meeting. The issue of non-refund of tickets booked during the Covid-19 lockdown period was discussed in the meeting chaired by Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh.
After the meeting, the ministry issued an official statement saying that travel aggregators have been asked to pay the pending fare amount affected due to the Covid-19 lockdown by the end of the third week of November. Apart from this, the establishment of an Ombudsman for time bound resolution of consumer complaints has also been discussed, the statement said.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Department of Consumer Affairs can jointly work out the modalities for setting it up. In another proposal, it has also been decided to integrate the National Consumer Helpline with the Air Seva Portal for effective resolution of consumer complaints.
