The Supreme Court recently ruled in favour of providing refunds to passengers who have had to cancel bookings due to the sudden lockdown and the pandemic.

In line with this recent judgement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has released a uniform refund policy to regulate this process.

It states that passengers will be classified into three categories and the refund process will be performed accordingly. 

If a ticket was booked between March 24 and March 25, a full refund will be provided by the concerned airline. 

If a ticket was booked prior to the lockdown and was cancelled due to the pandemic, the airlines have been instructed to refund the customers within a period of 15 days from October 7.

If an airline is not able to do that due to financial stress, it will issue a credit shell equivalent to the refund amount. The credit shell is transferable and can be availed of till March 2021.

If the ticket was booked for a journey after March 24, normal refund rules in accordance with the civil aviation requirements will be applicable.

This development comes as a huge relief to air passengers as many had lost a significant amount due to cancellations.