IndiGo has announced that it will reimburse passengers for their tickets cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic by January 31, 2021. The airlines said in a statemnet, "IndiGo is committed to complete payment against all pending credit shells latest by January 31, 2021."
IndiGo's Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said in a press release that the unprecedented pandemic brought the airlines' operations to a halt due to which their cash flow dried up.
Dutta was d saying, "However, will the resumption of operations and a steady increase in demand for air travel, our priority has been to refund the credit shell amounts in an expedited manner. We are pleased to commit that we will disburse the full 100% credit shell payments latest by January 31, 2021."
The budget carrier claims that it has already processed close to Rs 1,000 crore of refunds, which makes up 90 percent of the total amount owed to the customers.
Multiple airlines had decided not to refund the amount owed to customers but to keep the amount in a credit shell. Passengers could use these credit shells to book on a later date, but with certain restrictions.
The Supreme Court, in October, directed all airlines to make full payments of refunds to passengers by March 2021. The SC ordered refund of air tickets for travel during the COVID-19 lockdown period from March 25 to May 24 within three weeks from the date of the cancellation of flights. The apex court's order is applicable for the bookings made for both domestic and international tickets during the period.
While domestic flights were resumed after May 25 post two months of suspension, international flights are still discontinued since March 23 due to the pandemic.
(With inputs from agencies)