What are the DGCA Guidelines About Flight Delays & Cancellation?

In January this year, India’s domestic passenger traffic grew 96%. The airlines flew 125 lakh people, which is a significant increase from January 2022 when about 64 lakh passengers took flight. The COVID third wave had also started by January last year, which was the major reason for the decline in passengers. 

As the number of flyers increases in the country it is important to understand the rights and responsibilities while taking a flight. Flight delays and cancellations are some of the biggest worries for the passengers. In this write-up, we will discuss the guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) with regard to flight delays, cancellations and refunds.

Hotel Stays, Refreshments for Flight Delay

According to the DGCA guidelines, If a flight gets delayed for more than six hours, the carrier must inform the revised time at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time and provide consumers with either a full reimbursement or a substitute flight.

Passengers should be granted free hotel accommodations if their flight is delayed for more than 24 hours.

Also, If a flight departs between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. and is delayed for more than six hours, customers should be granted a complimentary hotel stay. 

Airlines are also required to provide food and beverages to passengers who are delayed for an extended amount of time, which varies based on the 'block time' of each flight. The period between a flight's departure from the gates and arrival at the destination's gates is referred to as block time.

However, carriers are not required to compensate passengers if the delay is caused by uncharacteristic and unforeseeable events beyond the airline's control. If the cancellation or delay was caused by factors that could not have been prevented despite taking adequate precautions, such as political unrest, natural disasters, civil war, riots or directives from the government impacting the aircraft, strikes and disputes, and so on.

Block Times

Travellers are entitled to refreshments if their flight is delayed for two hours and has a block time of two and a half hours. In the event of flights with a block duration of two and a half to five hours, the delay must be three hours in order for passengers to be offered refreshments.

If the trip does not fall into one of these two groups, the holdup must be more than four hours in order for the carrier to be obliged to provide refreshments.

Cancelled Flights and Reimbursement 

Cancelled flights can be extremely disruptive to any travel plan Under normal circumstances, airlines are required to notify you of a cancellation at least two weeks prior the scheduled departure date. Passengers should also be offered another flight or a refund by the carriers.

According to the DGCA website, if the airline notifies customers of the flight's cancellation less than fourteen days before departure but at least 24 hours prior to departure time, the carrier must provide a full refund or an alternate trip.

If the carrier does not notify the flier at least a day before departure, or if the passenger misses a connecting flight that was ticketed on the identical ticket number as a result of the cancellation, the airline must pay compensation ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 to the customer.

If you made your payment in cash, the airline is obligated to refund your money immediately. Whereas, If you paid via credit card, you must get your money back within a week.

Approach the travel agency for reservations made through them. Passenger Services Fee, Airport Development Fee/User Development Fee, and service tax are all refunded. The passenger can either accept the refund or utilise it to travel on a different date.

If you are not informed of the cancellation of your flight at least three hours prior to the scheduled departure time, the airline is required to compensate you as follows:

• Rs 5,000 or the booked one-way basic cost plus the air carrier's fuel charge, whichever is less, for flights with a block duration of up to and including one hour.

• Rs 7,500 or the booked one-way basic cost plus airline fuel surcharge, whichever is less, for flights with a block duration of more than one hour and up to and including two hours.

• For flights with a block duration of more than 2 hours, Rs 10,000 or the booked one-way basic cost + airline fuel charge, whichever is less.

Denied Boarding with a Valid Ticket

Airlines routinely overbook flights in order to avoid flying with vacant seats. In such instances, the airline is only obligated to compensate you if it is unable to place you on an alternate flight schedule that departs within one hour of your intended time of departure.

The DGCA has defined the amount of restitution if a passenger is refused boarding despite having a valid ticket and an alternate flight cannot be provided within an hour. 

If the alternative flight is scheduled within 24 hours of the original flight's departure, the airline must provide compensation of up to Rs. 10,000. While, If the alternative trip is more than 24 hours after the original flight's departure, the airline must provide compensation of up to Rs. 20,000.

How to Claim Compensation

Airlines in India follow DGCA procedures while handling compensation claims resulting from cancellations and delays. Passengers can seek compensation by contacting the nodal person of the relevant airline. Passengers who were refused boarding must, however, file a refund claim within a month after the occurrence. 

Customers must submit all relevant papers requested by the airline when making their claim to prevent problems, including contact information, the number of credit/debit cards used to purchase the ticket, ticket number, flight number, date of travel, and billing address. 

If the nodal officer is unable to address the matter, you may appeal to the involved airline's appellate body. If you are having difficulty filing the claim by yourself, then websites such as RefundMe can assist you. If you're not sure how your individual airline handles claims, check out their official website.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation's AirSewa portal also offers an online reporting and monitoring mechanism for the airport, flight, and other air travel-related concerns. Anyone can file and monitor actions on their complaints by signing up as a user on the AirSewa portal.

Despite having these guidelines, most of the time these compensations are not offered by the airlines despite the GDCA putting the detailed guidelines in place. Citizens too, don’t claim their compensation very often due to negligence and a lack of information. The overall picture suggests that there are rules in place already, however, it is imperative to enforce them in a systematic and sincere manner.