Mumbai: A consumer rights group has appealed to Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Suri to revise guidelines to refund tickets to all air passengers affected by the lockdown.
In a letter to the minister, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat on Tuesday said the Centre should follow the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development advisory to member states on the issue, according to a Business Standard report.
On April 16, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airlines to provide refunds to passengers whose flights were cancelled due to lockdown. But the ministry’s direction did not include the passengers who had booked tickets prior to the announcement of the lockdown, pointed out the Panchayat.
“The April 16 guidelines left out a large number of passengers who had booked tickets in advance. They need to be given refund benefit too,” Panchayat chairman Shirish Deshpande said.
Similarly, he objected to the airlines offering passengers credit shells instead of a refund and allowing them an option to rebook at a later date. “We need to strike a balance. A customer should have choice of refund and the airline can not force a customer to opt for credit shell, ” Deshpande said.
Domestic flights were suspended on March 24 and operations resumed on May 25. International flights remain suspended till date.
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