Flight delayed? You can soon claim compensation

Airlines will soon have to pay a price for causing inconvenience to passengers. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suggested compensation to passengers for being offloaded from an overbooked aircraft and if the flight is delayed or cancelled.

A draft posted on the DGCA website on Monday said the compensation would be Rs2,000-4,000 or the cost of the ticket, whichever is less.

Passengers, however, would get the money only if the ticket price is more than the compensation amount. So, if someone buys a ticket under the ‘Re1-type’ discount price schemes, where the fare is insignificant and only taxes
are paid, he/she is unlikely to be compensated.

As per the draft CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement), the compensation may even be a bank transfer or travel vouchers, but this shall be done within a stipulated time period. The DGCA has sought the airlines’ views on the proposal by July 20. The proposal was stuck for several years because of opposition from airlines, which cited poor financial condition to wriggle out of offering compensation to passengers.

The proposed compensation in case of flights of block time (travel time) of up to an hour is Rs2,000 and for flights of 1-2 hours and over 120 minutes
is Rs3,000 and Rs4,000 respectively.

It is not clear if the compensation would be the same in case of international travel. Airlines would also have to compensate passengers if a flight is delayed by two hours or more when the block time is up to 2.5 hours; delays of three hours and more for block time of 2.5-5 hours and of four hours and more for other flights.

The aviation regulator will also act stern regarding overbooking on airlines. With overbooking becoming rampant to make up for last-minute no shows, airlines will be bound to offer compensation apart from providing the option of a full refund or another flight. But this process will commence only after the airline seeks volunteers willing to give up their seats to accommodate the affected.    

The DGCA has also proposed that all airlines will have to provide refreshments as well as hotel accommodation (including hotel transfers) in case of delays, offloading and flight cancellation. While these services would have to be free of cost, the DGCA has not laid down parameters on conditions under which either or both would become mandatory.

Airlines, however, won’t have to cough up cash penalty if the delay or cancellation is caused by “extraordinary circumstances”, which are beyond their control like bad weather, security reasons or pilots going on strike.