A Consumer Friendly Policy in the offing

Following rising complaints by travelers against Indian carriers, the Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to intervene and bring forth  a few traveler-friendly changes.

Ministry particularly took cognizance of the fact that over 4,000 flights had been cancelled, and another 64,000 flights were delayed in the last year causing a great deal of inconvenience to the passengers

Many of the changes proposed by the Ministry, which will be applicable to both domestic and international flights by Indian carriers, appear to in the consumer interest. Here are some of the salient features that would directly affect your next travel experience.

1.Charges for cancellation by passengers have been reduced. Also ,processing the refund cannot incur any extra charges. Passengers can decide if they want to get a cash refund or hold the amount in credit.The new rules have mandated that ticket cancellation charges cannot exceed basic fare. Few people know that the fuel surcharge is not levied by the government but by the airline. For example , keeping the basic fare as low as 250 , the airline charges a fuel surcharge of 1750/-

 2.Adequate compensation to be given if passenger is denied boarding due to over-booking. Airline overbooking is a regular practice in order to minimize low load factor.If the airline  arranges another flight within 24 hours, then compensation would be double the basic fare and the airline fuel charge, up to a limit of Rs 10,000.  If the alternative flight is arranged  more than 24 hours later, the compensation goes up to four times the basic fare up to a limit of Rs 20,000.

3. In case of cancellations, all taxes and user/airport development fees are to be refunded.There ‘s still an ambiguity over the fuel surcharge though

4. All refunds must be completed within 15 days for domestic passengers and 30 days for international travellers.

5. Excess baggage fees are to be lowered. Excess baggage of upto 5 Kg over the 15-Kg limit will be charged at not more than Rs 100 per Kg. At present, Rs 300 is levied for every Kg of baggage beyond the 15-Kg limit and with service tax it comes to 345 per kg . Only Air India allows free baggage up to 25 Kg.

6. Compensation for flight cancellations has been increased. In case of flight cancellations announced within 24 hours of departure, the compensation amount has been enhanced upto Rs 10,000

7. Airlines must provide request for stretcher option for a patient unable to use a wheelchair. To help people with temporary or permanent disabilities, airlines should develop a procedure for making advance request of stretcher. It should be displayed on the airline’s website.