You may now have to pay less as cancellation fees to airlines

Key Highlights:

• Cancellation charges have been on the rise since January 2016.
• Government has asked for airlines to scrap this charge last month.
• Airlines have now junked its ‘flat Rs 3,000 cancellation’ fee.

After the directive by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was issued to airlines on high cancellation fees, the domestic carriers have now junked its ‘flat Rs 3,000 cancellation’ fee.

Indian airlines have now said that cancellation charges will be "Rs 3,000 or base fare plus fuel surcharge per passenger, whichever is lower”, a report by Times of India said on Monday.

The report further added that this relief by airlines may bring respite to those who manage to buy cheap air tickets by purchasing them in advance. However, they may end up losing a lot of money while cancelling them if unable to travel for some reason.

In an attempt to make air travel affordable, Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha had asked airlines to cancel this charge last month. The government had also introduced UDAN scheme in August last year bringing the price of flight tickets that last up to an hour down to Rs 2,500.

However, flight cancellation charges have been on the rise since January 2016. A Zee News report pointed out that charges that used to be Rs 1,800 have now been hiked to nearly Rs 2,400. Till recently, cancellation charges stood at Rs 3,000.

"The issue of refund of tickets by airlines has become a major source of grievance amongst airline passengers. A large number of complaints are regularly received which can broadly be divided into the following categories: a) Delay in refund. b) Amount refunded. c) Policy of no refund of the ticket amount but to adjust against tickets to be purchased by the passenger for future travel,” refund of airline tickets rule stated.

Also read: Here’s how much airlines earned from charging cancellation fees