The US has ordered Air India, which is controlled by the Tata Group, to pay a whopping $121.5 million in passenger refunds and $1.4 million in penalties for blatant delays in giving reimbursements to passengers owing to flight cancellations or changes, largely during the pandemic.
According to the US DoT on Monday, Air India is one of the six airlines that have been told to pay up more than $600 million in reimbursements. The other airlines that received fines in addition to Air India are Frontier, TAP Portugal, Aero Mexico, EI AI, and Avianca.
The Department of Transportation policy, which requires airlines to legally return tickets in the event of a flight cancellation or change, is in conflict with Air India's "refund on request" policy, according to a report from news agency PTI citing authorities.
An official examination revealed that Air India processed more than half of the 1,900 refund complaints submitted to the Department of Transportation for flights that the carrier cancelled or materially modified in more than 100 days.
Information on how long it took Air India to handle refund requests made directly by passengers who filed complaints and asked for refunds was not available to the agency.
“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," the US Department of Transportation said.
The DOT advised Air India not to repeat the unfair practice of altering or cancelling flights without providing a refund. After being privatised in January 2022, Air India is working to resolve all pending reimbursements. According to the airline, more than 25,000 cases totalling $18.30 million have been successfully handled.
© Vygr Media Private Limited 2022. All Rights Reserved.
