Govt wants airlines to roll back Rs3,000 ticket cancellation fee

The government has taken objection to the Rs3,000 cancellation fee charged by some airlines for domestic flight tickets and will soon ask concerned carriers to roll back the penalty to more reasonable levels, reports quoting official sources said.

The government's move comes after the cost of cancelling flight tickets nearly doubled since 2016, according to reports.

A report in The Times of India says travellers might no longer need to bear with high ticket-cancellation charges that some airlines impose as the government is going to push for a reduction in such charges, which can be as high as Rs3,000.

The report quoted minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha as saying that the fee (Rs3,000 at present), could end up being "more than the price of the ticket itself" over a period of time.

The cancellation charge is more than the fares under the government's Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme, which has "capped fares at Rs2,500 per hour of flying".

Sinha said the charges needed to be "brought back into balance", and has ordered a review of the ticket-cancellation charges by airlines, according to the report.

"We believe cancellation charges are on the high side and onerous for passengers. The Rs 3,000 fee is in many cases more than the price of the ticket itself. Our UDAN (subsidised regional flying) scheme has capped fares at Rs 2,500 per hour of flying. These cancellation charges need to be brought back into balance," aviation minister Sinha told The Times of India.

Airlines are also facing charges behavioural issues in the wake of the row over manhandling of a passenger by IndiGo Airlines last month. A parliamentary committee examined the issue of "behaviour of airline personnel towards passengers".