New Delhi, Nov 15, 2022: The department of transport of United States has directed Tata-led Air India to pay $121.5 million as refunds to passengers in addition to $1.4 million as penalties.
According to officials, the action has been taken as a result of extreme delays in providing refunds to passengers owing to the cancellation or change in flights, especially during the pandemic.
The US Department of Transportation stated that Air India is among the six airlines which have agreed to pay a total of over $600 million in refunds.
Air India’s policy of “refund on request” is contrary to the Department of Transportation policy, which requires air carriers to legally refund tickets in cases of cancellation or change in flight.
The cases in which Air India has been directed to pay the refund and agreed to pay the penalty had occurred before the national carrier was taken over by the Tatas.
An official investigation has found that Air India took over 100 days to process more than half of the 1,900 refund complaints filed with the Department of Transportation for flights that the carrier cancelled or changed.
The US Department of Transportation said, “Irrespective of Air India’s stated refund policy, in practice Air India did not provide timely refunds. As a result, consumers experienced significant harm from the extreme delay in receiving their refunds.”
