Recent draft regulations released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation regarding refund of airline tickets on cancellation is a long overdue step, which will provide relief to air travellers. Around one-fifth of the complaints being received by DGCA relate to delays in refund of money on ticket cancellations, deduction of arbitrarily high amounts as cancellation charges and airlines setting off the cancelled air-ticket against future bookings.

The lack of transparency and standardisation in this sphere has become a pain point. The new rules that align with global best practices prescribe the minimum standards to be followed by airlines while refunding cancelled tickets, giving airlines the room to provide better terms, if they so desire. This is likely to benefit customers given t

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