NEW DELHI, Oct 1: In a bid to provide some relief to both the cash-starved airlines as well as the passengers who see no immediate prospects of travelling, the Supreme Court has allowed the airlines companies to create “credit shells” with life up to March 31, 2021, with money paid for booking tickets for travelling during the lockdown period.
In case the amount deposited in the credit shells remained unutilized till the deadline, the airlines companies would be required to make full refund to the passengers. In the cases where the tickets were booked through some travel agents, the money would have to be utilized through these agents and not directly by the passenger, the court ruled. The order would be applicable only for the passengers who had booked the plane tickets for the period when the country was under the COVID-19 lockdown, the court said.
Delivering the judgement on Thursday, a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah clarified that it was accepting all the suggestions put forth by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regarding the refund of tickets for flights cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The apex court had reserved its verdict in the case on September 25.
The court said the DGCA had proposed the credit shell facility instead of an immediate refund given the financial distress of some airlines amid the pandemic. The refund would be applicable on flights originating in India, both domestic and international, and booked for the lockdown period only, the court maintained.
(Manas Dasgupta)