Booking of Air Tickets: The government directs travel aggregators to promptly reimburse funds reserved during the lockout

 Booking of Air Tickets: The government directs travel aggregators to promptly reimburse funds reserved during the lockout

Booking of Air Tickets: The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has sent notifications to six online portal businesses after becoming aware of this situation.

Update on Air Ticket Booking: Customers who have been waiting over three years for a refund from online travel agencies now have some relief. The customers who purchased tickets on online travel-related portals during the lockdown period enforced by the coronavirus have been instructed by the Central Government to get their money back immediately. Refunds must be issued by the end of the third week of November, per a government directive.

In an effort to stop the corona virus during its first phase, the nation was placed under lockdown on March 25, 2020. To stop the pandemic from spreading, commercial flights, both domestic and international, were suspended at this time until May.

On Wednesday, November 8, 2023, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs met with businesses that provide online ticket booking services to talk about problems that negatively affect the interests of customers. During this discussion, the topic of not giving customers their money back was also brought up. In the meeting presided over by Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, the topic of non-refund of tickets purchased during the Covid-19 shutdown period was brought up.

Following the meeting, an official statement from the ministry said that travel aggregators would need to clear the outstanding fare amount that was impacted by the Covid-19 closure by the end of the third week of November. In addition, the statement said that the creation of an Ombudsman for the prompt settlement of customer concerns has also been considered.

The Department of Consumer Affairs and the Ministry of Civil Aviation may collaborate to determine the best way to put it up. For the purpose of effectively resolving customer concerns, it has also been agreed to connect the National Consumer Helpline through the Air Seva Portal.