India’s New Airline Rules For The Sake Of Air Passengers

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Are you aware of all the rights while flying through an airline in India? India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation released a charter in August 2019 that contains all the deets regarding rights of passengers flying within the country. Some rules are the same as earlier but some are modified as per the airline and passenger need. Let’s have a look at these new set of rules as an air passenger in India.

Reimbursement of flight delay

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• If you have reached the airport on time, your flight has a block time of 2.5 hours and is late by over 2 hours then you will get a free meal during your waiting period. The same applies in case of block time is 2.5-5 hours and the flight is late over 3 hours.
• In case your domestic flight is delayed over 6 hours, the rescheduled time will be informed to you before your original scheduled departure time. Also, the airline is entitled to offer you an alternative flight within that time or a full refund of your ticket.
• You deserve a free hotel stay in two cases. One, if your late flight is informed to you after 24 hours before your original scheduled departure and second is if the flight delay is over 24 hours or 6 hours for flights arranged between 8 pm-3 am.

What can you claim if the flight is canceled?

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• If the flight is cancelled and you are informed about the same within a fortnight before 24 hours of the scheduled departure, then you are eligible to get an alternative flight or a full refund of your ticket.
• If the block time of your flight is between 1-2 hours then compensation of Rs. 7500, and for flights with over 2 hours of block time, it is Rs. 10,000.
• If the airline terminal has been changed for which you had booked then you are entitled to get the amount of transferring to the original one. But, in case you have informed prior 6 hours for change in terminal then you will have to make your own arrangements.
• Additionally, if you have been provided with alternative flight and you are waiting for that alternative then you will be given meals and refreshments during that waiting period by the airline.

What should be your next step if you were denied boarding a flight because it was overbooked?

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• If the airline has arranged an alternative flight for you within one hour of the flight that you booked, then you cannot claim for compensation of the missed flight.
• If the airline fails to arrange the alternate flight for the passengers then you will receive compensation equal to 200% of booked one-way plus fuel charge of airline, subject to a maximum of Rs. 10,000 in case airline set out another flight scheduled to depart within 24 hours of the booked arranged departure.
• If the airline arranges an alternative flight after 24 hours of the original departure time then, you will receive compensation of 400% of booked one-way flight plus fuel charge of airline, subject to a max of Rs. 20,000.

Regarding Refund

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If you have bought a flight ticket by paying cash payment then it’s your luck as you can immediately get a refund at the airport. If the payment mode was a credit card then it may take a few days, and if the payment was made through a travel agency then it depends on the agent.

Cases when you are not entitled to any compensation

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When the delay or cancellation of flights caused by any circumstances that are not within the range of airline or out of control like political dispute, natural calamity, civil war, aircraft strikes or slowdown in the working of an airline. Also, the airline is not liable to pay any compensation if the delay of cancelation of flight is caused due to security risk, air traffic control or meteorological condition. 

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