India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation permits free air ticket cancellations within 48 hours
Change
India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered airlines to allow passengers to cancel or amend tickets without extra charges within 48 hours of booking, to permit fee-free name corrections within 24 hours for direct bookings, and to complete refunds within 14 working days.
Why it matters
Booking platforms and airlines now face a legally enforced brief post-booking window during which they cannot collect change or cancellation fees, requiring immediate updates to booking confirmations and fare displays. Customer-service, refunds and medical-review teams are now constrained by specific processing requirements and deadlines for handling name corrections and medical-exemption claims.
Implications
- • Airlines' finance and refunds teams must complete passenger refunds for both direct and travel-agent bookings within 14 working days or be in breach of the DGCA requirement.
- • Airlines' ticketing and revenue teams must remove or disable change and cancellation charges during the 48-hour post-booking look-in period across all sales channels or risk non-compliance.
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