Supreme Court tells private airlines to give refunds for cancellations

The Supreme Court on Friday asked private airlines to find a way out to refund the air fare of passengers whose flights were cancelled during the lockdown, along with the ministry of civil aviation.

Most airlines had placed passengers in a Credit Shell by which they could avail the travel on the same sector within the next seven months to one year.

A non-profit organisation, Pravasi Legal Cell, filed a petition in the top court saying that passengers did not intend to avail of the Credit Shell within the stipulated period and should be given a full refund. The bench of Justices Ashok Bhusha, SK Kaul and MR Shah said, “The credit facility that you grant must be for at least two years and passengers should be allowed to avail it across all sectors.”

In response, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the airlines ought to make full refund to passengers. Senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for Spicejet sought to be added in the matter as he felt that a full refund was impossible. “We are having zero revenue and our global earnings have been hugely hit.”