Cancellation, rescheduling, no-show charges: everything seems to be in DGCA crosshairs

India’s aviation regulator DGCA has begun examining if there has been any exorbitant increase by airlines in their ticket cancellation charges recently.

The regulator had asked all airlines to submit data pertaining to three charges, after receiving numerous complaints specifically on hiked cancellation charges. It has now received data from all airlines on cancellation charges, charges levied by them for no-show (when a passenger does not show up on a booked ticket) and charges for rescheduling tickets.

A senior DGCA official said today that data from all airlines are in and prima facie, it is clear that airlines have made cancellation charges time sensitive. Put simply, this means cancellation charges are least if the cancellation is done at the earliest. The regulator is examining the data and will take a decision on any action, if needed, soon.

Effective last Saturday, SpiceJet raised its cancellation fee for domestic flights from Rs 1500 earlier to Rs 1800. For international flights, charges were raised from Rs 1800 to Rs 2500. There appears to be no time-sensitivity involved in this increase since these are flat rates.

In the case of IndiGo, if cancellation is made within 30 days or more before scheduled departure, the passenger has to pay Rs 1250 for a domestic flight and Rs 2000 for an international one. The charges keep climbing as the flight departure nears, peaking at Rs 2250 and Rs 2500 for domestic and international flights if cancellation is being done two to 48 hours before the flight’s scheduled departure.

The DGCA started enquiries on cancellation charges after it was noticed that several airlines had raised these steeply and one after the other, in quick succession.

The spokesperson of an LCC said that there are no specific charges for “no show” but the entire ticket amount except taxes and levies is deducted by the airline. As for rescheduling, this can be done only up to two hours before the flight’s scheduled departure and then too, cancellation charges must be paid before the ticket is rescheduled.

The examination of these charges and their sudden increase by airlines comes just when the DGCA has cracked the whip on another prickly issue: LCCs planning to offer discounted fares where each piece of checked-in bag was to be charged for separately. After much to-and-fro between the airlines, the DGCA and the ministry, it has now been clarified to all airlines that they must allow 15 kg of checked in bags without any extra charge

The DGCA official mentioned earlier said CEOs of all airlines met the DGCA chief M Sathiyavati yesterday over some operational issues. After the meeting, the CEO of one LCC wanted to discuss 15-kg free baggage stipulation by the regulator but was again told that there is no concession likely on this diktat by the regulator.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation had stepped in some time back to reject budget carriers’ plea to allow them to charge for all checked-in baggage. Airlines had DGCA for this but Sharma intervened and effectively nipped it in the bud.

LCCs had earlier mooted a ‘zero baggage fare’ whereby passengers having no check-in luggage could get a discount on the ticket. The proposed move was aimed at doing away with the current practice of passengers being allowed to carry up to 15 kg of check-in luggage free of cost. In April this year, DGCA had allowed domestic carriers to unbundle their services and charge separately for facilities such as preferred seats, meals-on-board and use of lounges.