In a petition before the Supreme Court, Chennai-based Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) has alleged that despite statutory obligations, airlines were refusing to issue refund for flights cancelled due to the coronavirus lockdown. The plea alleges that airlines are “unjustly enriching themselves” in these “testing times”.

The plea seeks for action of the offending airlines to be declared as arbitrary and for directions to issue full refund at the earliest.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the plea by the APAI and has issued a formal notice, seeking a reply from the union government and the airline regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The court has tagged the plea with similar petitions that have been filed earlier, seeking similar relief.

Against requests for refund, the APAI argues that the airlines are trying to issue “credit shells” valid for 12-24 months for the passengers to book travel with the same airline, in the prescribed period. The APAI says that it is a blatant violation of statutory provisions.

The latest plea by the APAI argues that the DGCA’s prescribed civil aviation requirements (CAR) clearly require airlines to issue full refund. The plea cites DGCA’s May 2018 circular, issued under CAR.

The plea argues as per Rule 3 under the circular, it is mandatory for airlines to issue a refund within seven days. The plea also points out that as per the same Rule 3, issuance of a credit shell cannot be a default practice and is according to the discretion of passengers.

The plea also cited the more recent April 16 circular, directing airlines to refund money of passengers for flights cancelled owing to the lockdown.

The APAI submitted that the numerous complaints have been received by passengers experiencing inconvenience due to non-issuance of a refund.