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If an air passenger cancels his ticket within 24 hours of booking, he may not be charged anything by the airline. Soon, there may also be no fee for making a correction in the name of the passenger within 24 hours of booking an air ticket.
These changes have been proposed in the Draft Air Passenger Charter, which was put out in the public domain on Tuesday. The draft will be in public domain for comments for one month and, after considering the suggestions, the Government will notify the Air Passenger Charter, officials said. Briefing newspersons on these changes, RN Choubey, Civil Aviation Secretary, said a passenger will, however, have to pay the difference in fare if the alternative flight he wants to take is priced higher. The Draft Air Passenger Charter forms part of the Air Sewa hashtag, which has four elements, unveiled by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation. A DigiYatra experience also forms a part of the hashtag for seamless movement through airports in India. Unveiling Air Sewa, Sinha said it is proposed that cancellation charges should not be more than the basic fare and the fuel surcharge. It is proposed that if a domestic airlines cancels a flight or delays it for more than four hours, a passenger can seek a full refund. The Charter proposes that if a passenger is informed about the cancellation of a flight less than two weeks before and up to 24 hours of the scheduled departure time, the airline must offer an alternative flight allowing the passenger to depart within two hours of the booked scheduled departure time or refund the ticket, as acceptable to the passenger.
The Charter also proposes that a passenger will have the option to seek a full refund of the ticket if a flight delay is communicated more than 24 hours before the original scheduled time and if the flight is delayed for more than four hours
In addition, if the alternative flight being offered is for the next day, the airline has to offer free hotel stay and also provide transfers to the hotel.
The Charter proposes compensation of between ₹5,000 (for delay of more than three hours) and ₹20,000 (for delay of more than 12 hours) in case a passenger misses a connecting flight due to delays.
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