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Air passengers entitled to refunds due to lockdown, Centre tells SC
The statement came during proceedings on a bunch of public interest litigations filed by air passengers under the banner Pravasi Legal Cell, seeking refunds for flights booked prior to the lockdown that was enforced on March 25. Individual passengers, too, filed similar petitions that were heard together by the Court.
The Centre assured the Supreme Court on Wednesday that all air passengers will be entitled to claim refunds for flights cancelled during the lockdown imposed to slow the spread of Covid-19, regardless of when they booked the ticket.
“We intend refund of all cancelled flights during the lockdown. There is no catch on when the tickets were booked.” solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, said,.
The statement came during proceedings on a bunch of public interest litigations filed by air passengers under the banner Pravasi Legal Cell, seeking refunds for flights booked prior to the lockdown that was enforced on March 25. Individual passengers, too, filed similar petitions that were heard together by the Court.
The bench, also comprising Justices R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah, asked Mehta to file an affidavit explaining the Centre’s position within a week.
The bench said: “In your affidavit you (Centre) have said (in the case of) tickets booked during the first lockdown period (March 25- April 14) for travel during the lockdown period till May 3, full refund shall be given by the airlines immediately. The petitioners want to know will those who booked tickets before that date also be entitled?.”
The Court gave the Centre a week’s time to clarify its position and posted the matter for hearing on September 23.
Last week, an affidavit filed by the Centre outlined a scheme for passengers who demanded refund of fares for flights that were cancelled during the lockdown. By a notification of April 16, 2020, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ordered full refund of tickets booked during the lockdown, but those who booked prior to this date were not considered for similar relief.
Passengers claimed that airlines were wrong in denying them a refund and wanted credit for future travel with the carriers. The flight operators, on the other hand, claimed helplessness in repaying the money after being hit badly by the lockdown.
On the top court’s prodding, government officials, along with the DGCA and flight operators, met in July and formulated a scheme to protect in interests of both passengers and airlines. The scheme promised immediate refunds for tickets booked between March 25 and April 14, the period coinciding with first lockdown.
“For all other cases, the airlines shall make all endeavors to refund the collected amount to the passenger within 15 days,” the scheme added.The solicitor general clarified on Wednesday that this sentence will cover even those tickets booked prior to lockdown.
Mehta said, “This scheme is subject to the final approval of the Court. Tickets have to be refunded. If not in cash, the airlines must create a credit shell in the name of the passenger that can be availed on any route for travel on or before March 31, 2021. The Centre has taken care of the interests of both passengers and airlines with this scheme.”
Senior advocate CA Sundaram, who appeared for the Air Passengers Association, said, “We are largely agreeable to the proposed scheme.” He proposed higher interest on the money deposited with the credit shell. The rate fixed by the Centre was 0.5% per month from the date of cancellation till June 30 and thereafter, 0.75% every month till March 31, 2021..
IndiGo, represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, said it was “by and large happy” but sought a little tweaking of some formulations. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for SpiceJet. endorsed the scheme while senior counsel Arvind Datar, appearing for GoAir, claimed that the carrier was not in a position to pay as it had so many other financial commitments. Vistara and Air Asia also supported the stand taken by Datar. The court gave a week’s time to all airlines to respond on the government’s affidavit containing the scheme.
The court also allowed tour operators’ associations to give their response as they were not happy with the proposal to open a credit shell in the name of a passenger. Since they book tickets in bulk, the tour operators demanded that for tickets booked by them, the credit shell should be in their name and they would transfer the refund to the passengers.
