‘Honour the Citizen’s Charter’

Pradip Lulla, Vice President and Acting President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), says that by not refunding customers’ money, airlines and the government are going against the Citizen’s Charter that clearly defines the refund policy.

Nisha Verma

Sharing updates on the petition filed in Supreme Court regarding air ticket refunds, Pradip Lulla said, “We have two cases in Supreme Court, in which we have given a writ petition for the refunds and the first hearing was on June 12, where the Attorney General had instructed that we, along with the petitioner, should speak to certain airlines and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA to intervene and inquire. We are still sticking to the fact that refunds must be given to the travel agents the way it should be. One of the airline intervenors also said that refunds are not being paid anywhere else in the world as well, which we objected. We have said that even in India, there are airlines that are paying refunds, though they are taking time. Here, we mean refunds in cash and not credit shells.”

He added that since refunds were not coming through, they are facing operational problems and this puts in question the credibility of airlines as well. “Our clients are calling us for refunds and the airlines are delaying them. They have not paid refunds on bookings as old as three months. This is an issue because DGCA did not help out by giving a strong verdict to airlines. While refunds have not been paid by airlines in India, in other countries where regulators have given a strict verdict, the refunds have been paid,” he asserted.

If the government gives a strong directive to airlines, it would help them in doing business in future, believes Lulla. “Airlines are continuing the policy of no refunds even post unlock. It’s a loss of credibility for the industry, not only agents but airlines as well. People will be wary of travelling when we don’t treat our passengers properly by not giving them an option of at least getting their money back. Instead of getting their money back, they are given a credit shell, which according to me is nothing but unsecured credit to the airline without even earning any interest, because one doesn’t even know when he/she will travel next. There are airlines like Air Mauritius and Thai Airways that have gone under administration, and there is no guarantee if they will fly again. A credit shell in such a case makes the passenger an unsecured creditor, which is not fair. The Indian aviation industry was the fastest growing market pre-COVID and now when things have gone sour, the least we can do is to maintain credibility,” he insisted.

Lulla added that the government honour the Citizen’s Charter they released. “By not refunding the money, they are going against the Charter. Through our writ petition, we are only wanting the rights that are already there, to be enforced. We are not asking for anything more than that,” he opined.