Supreme Court comes to rescue of travellers! Directs airlines to find way to refund passengers’ money

The nationwide lockdown was the only way to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in India. However, it came at a short notice, which didn’t give people enough time to prepare. Travellers who had booked air tickets for the coming months were left in the lurch. Now, Supreme Court has come to their rescue.

The apex court, on Friday, asked the Civil Aviation Ministry and airlines to collectively work out the modalities for ways to refund passengers' money which got stuck due to cancellation of flight tickets during Covid-19 lockdown. It sought answers from the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA) and airlines on a clutch of petitions seeking the complete refund of money spent on cancelled air tickets.

Supreme Court asked Center to take a stand on the matter and urged the ministry and airlines to work out the plan on the same and apprise the court of the developments within three weeks.

The SC bench comprising of Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MR Shah asked the airline operator to extend the credit period of two years. It suggested that a credit note by airlines must have a life of at least two years and for any route if that's the way out. The observation from the bench was made on a plea filed by Pravasi Legal Cell through lawyer Jose Abraham.

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During the hearing, Spicejet reportedly told the court that none of the airlines around the globe have made such refunds. "We would like to sit with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and come up with a solution," it told the top court.

The domestic flights in India have already started after the lockdown but international flights are yet to resume.