DGCA revises air ticket refund rules, allows free cancellation, changes within 48 hours of booking

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised air ticket refund norms, allowing passengers to cancel or amend bookings without additional charges.

In a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) dated February 24, 2026, the regulator has asked airlines to provide 'Look-in option' for a period of 48 hours to passengers after booking tickets.

The aviation watchdog said airlines must allow passengers to cancel or modify tickets within 48 hours of booking without levying any extra fee.

The facility, however, will not be available if the flight’s departure is less than seven days from the booking date in case of domestic travel and 15 days for international travel, when tickets are booked directly through an airline’s website.

"In case of purchase of ticket through travel agent/portal, onus of refund shall lie with the airlines as agents are their appointed representatives. The airlines shall ensure that the refund process is completed within 14 working days," the DGCA said.

The revised norms come amid a surge in complaints from passengers regarding delays in refunds, lower-than-expected refund amounts, and the practice of forcing credit shells instead of cash refunds.

The ticket refund issue also got highlighted during the IndiGo flight disruptions in December 2025 and at that time, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the refunds within a specified timeline.

The DGCA said while the government does not intend to interfere in airlines’ commercial practices, the volume of complaints necessitated fixing minimum benchmarks to safeguard passenger interests.

Under the new rules, airlines must process refunds for credit card payments within seven days of cancellation, directly to the cardholder’s account. In case of cash transactions, refunds must be made immediately from the airline office where the ticket was purchased.

The regulator has also made it mandatory for airlines to refund all statutory taxes, including User Development Fee (UDF), Airport Development Fee (ADF) and Passenger Service Fee (PSF), in cases of cancellation, non-utilisation or no-show, even if the base fare is non-refundable or booked under promotional fares.

The airlines have been barred from levying cancellation charges exceeding the sum of the basic fare and fuel surcharge. They are also prohibited from charging any additional fee to process refunds.

The CAR stipulates that cancellation charges must be prominently displayed at the time of booking and that airlines must clearly indicate the admissible refund amount and its break-up.

The refund policy and applicable amounts must also be displayed on airline websites in an unambiguous manner.

The option of retaining the refund amount in a credit shell will now be the passenger’s prerogative and cannot be imposed as a default practice by airlines.

In cases of medical emergencies where a passenger or a family member on the same PNR is hospitalised during the travel period, airlines may offer either a refund or a credit shell.

"For all other situations, refunds will be issued once an opinion on the passenger's fitness to travel certificate is received from an airline's Aerospace Medicine specialist/ DGCA empanelled Aerospace Medicine specialist," it said.

The revised norms will come into effect from March 26, 2026.