TravTalk India Online Magazine
The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) has put its foot down and demanded that agents receive complete cash refunds from airlines, during a virtual meeting with Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) representatives on July 11.
Hazel Jain
The Travel Agents Federation of India has said a complete and resounding ‘no’ to credit shells from airlines they have booked with, during a virtual meeting with Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on July 11, 2020. Sharing
more details is Pradip Lulla, Acting President and VP, TAFI, who says, “We want complete refund instead of credit shells. What happens to these credit shells if the concerned airline goes bust? This is unsecured credit and we don’t accept it.”
He adds, “We would want all international airlines on the IATA BSP platform to give refunds in the seven-day cycle as it was being done earlier or in cash in our account within a month so that we can then refund the same to our clients to maintain our own credibility and their confidence in us. In the domestic LCC model, where we have to provide cash deposits on our login account with airlines, refund should be given in cash in that account. It should be our option if we want to transfer it to our bank account. This will lead to the agents giving cash refunds to our clients. It is very important to maintain a proper refund policy to maintain a positive cash flow and credibility for all. Any other form of future use of credit shells will only prevent the passengers to buy a ticket in advance. Our member travel agents have lost money in the past by not receiving any refund from failed airlines since there is absolutely no protection extended to them.”
Only 8% refunds for Jet Airways
In another blow to the industry, Lulla said that it received a letter from IATA that states that agencies will receive only 8% of the total refunds from Jet Airways. The letter says, “Unfortunately, the balance of the Security Deposit held by IATA (after settling 100% of all refunds up to the date of suspension) was not sufficient to cover all the remaining refunds that have been approved by Jet Airways in the post-suspension refund process. Therefore, IATA will have to pro-rate the total refund against the net remaining balance withheld, which means that your agency will receive approximately 8% of the total refunds approved by the airline.” This will be automatically included in their billing. Refunds that have been rejected by the airline will not be processed
Virtual convention
Speaking on member engagements this year, Lulla adds, “Since a regular convention is not possible this year, we will conduct a virtual convention in November 2020 for our members. We are in discussion with a couple of technology partners and sponsors and will announce the details soon.” TAFI is also in talks with Israel Tourism to conduct a webinar for its members.
Case hearing moved to July 20
The hearing date for the sole petition filed by TAFI on June 5, 2020 in the Supreme Court against MoCA and DGCA, which was earlier July 13, has now been moved to July 20.
