Relief for passengers as India announces new rules for airliners

Reuters: Indian government announced on Saturday a slew of measures to regulate fare refunds by airlines, to increase compensation for denied boarding and a steep reduction in excess baggage fee.

India is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, with around 70 million domestic tickets sold annually and passenger numbers rising 20% a year.

India’s junior civil aviation minister, Mahesh Sharma, said airlines would have to refund all statutory taxes in case of flight cancellations within a stipulated time.

“We are going to announce civil aviation policy very soon. Earlier, the refund process was not time-bound. Now, it has become time-bound. Airlines will have to refund the fare of domestic flights within 15 days and international flights within 30 days to the customer’s bank account,” Sharma told reporters in New Delhi.

The government also proposed to cap the ticket cancellation charge.

“Cancellation charge will not be more than Rs. 200 ($2.99) or more than basic fare. Earlier, airlines used to deduct Rs. 200 ($2.99) or Rs. 250 ($3.73) as refund processing charge. Airlines will not be permitted to deduct any refund processing charges,” added Sharma.

Sharma said the government had made it mandatory for airlines to charge only Rs. 100 ($1.4) from the customers for extra baggage.

“Every airline allows 15 kilogram of baggage for each passenger to carry. It is difficult for passengers to measure weight of the luggage so Rs. 100 ($1.4) will be charged for every one kilogram of extra baggage. Earlier it was Rs. 300 ($4.48) per kilogram.”

These regulations will be put up on the government’s website before final decision is taken.