In the event of an unavoidable downgrade in the booked class of ticket, airlines may be obligated to fly the customer for free and refund the full cost of the ticket. When a person who has purchased a first class, business class, or premium economy ticket gets reduced to a lesser class at the time of check-in, it is known as an involuntary downgrade.
Airlines might fly passengers for free and refund full value of ticket in the event of an involuntary downgrade in booked class of tickets
Currently, there are no regulations for such downgrades in India, but there are return rights in western markets. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) present discussions may be the most customer-friendly ever.
The oversight body for aviation announced on Friday that it is working to alter the regulations to provide compensation for passengers who were refused the opportunity to travel in the class of their choosing.
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DGCA states that amended rules to compensate flyers who were denied their right to travel the class of their choice could be the most consumer friendly rule in the world
Unserviceable seats, changed aircraft, and overbooking all contribute to involuntary downgrades. Current DGCA regulations exclusively investigate boarding denial and flight cancellation instances.
According to a statement from the DGCA, “the amendment will allow the passenger, who is downgraded involuntarily from his booked class of ticket, to receive the full value of the ticket, including taxes, as refund from the airline and the airline will carry the passenger free of charge in the next available class.”
However, the idea must first go through stakeholder engagement before the final regulation is published and put into effect.
The authority had issued a warning to airlines in May not to provide passengers with unserviceable seats on both domestic and international flights. It had audited aircraft seats and other cabin fixtures earlier in the year and discovered that many had defective or unusable seats.
Leading Carriers in the US like Delta and United Airlines only refund the difference in fare of the travelling class. Law in the UK requires airlines to refund 30-75% of the ticket cost. The same law was adopted by German giant Lufthansa.
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