Airlines can’t shirk their responsibility and have to compensate passengers for cancelled and delayed flights, parliament was told on Monday. These include a full refund and compensation, and even hotel booking, transfers and food in the case of longer flight delays.
Minister of state for civil aviation V.K.Singh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today made it clear that such provisions already exist as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) CAR, or ‘Civil Aviation Requirement’.
According to these rules, if a flight is cancelled, airlines are obligated to either provide an alternate flight or provide a full refund plus compensation. Additionally, the airline has to provide meals and refreshments to passengers who have already reported for their original flight and then have to wait for the alternate flight.
In case of a flight delay, airlines are required to provide meals and refreshments, an alternate flight or full refund of the ticket, and if need arises depending on what the actual flight delay is, then hotel accommodation, including transfers to the hotel.
However, these rules do not apply in case the cancellation or delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the airline. “Adequate provisions to safeguard the interests of passengers are already in place, parliament was told, with this information already available in the form of the passenger charter on the ministry of civil aviation website, DGCA website and also on all airline websites.