The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has amended rules that allow passengers to cancel or change flight tickets without paying additional fees within 48 hours of making a booking, under certain conditions.
This revision is part of the amendments to the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on “Refund of Airline Tickets for Public Carrier Passengers” – issued on 24 February.
The General Directorate of Civil Aviation said:
-Airlines may not impose any additional fees for correction in the name of the same person when the passenger points out the error within 24 hours of making the reservation, when the ticket is booked directly through the airline’s website.
– “If a ticket is purchased through a travel agent/portal, the burden of refund falls on the airlines as the agents are their appointed representatives. The airlines must ensure that the refund process is completed within 14 working days,” the DGCA said.
– Airlines are advised to provide a “Search” option to passengers for 48 hours after booking tickets. “During this period, the passenger can cancel or modify the ticket at no additional charge, except for the prevailing regular fare for the modified flight for which the ticket modification is requested.”
– The above facilities will not be available for a flight whose departure time is less than seven days for the domestic flight and 15 days for the international flight from the date of booking when the ticket is booked directly through the airline’s website. After 48 hours from the time of initial booking, this option will no longer be available and the traveler will have to pay the relevant cancellation fee for the amendment.
– In the event that tickets are canceled due to a medical emergency, where the passenger or a family member listed on the same PNR is admitted/admitted to hospital during the travel period, airlines may offer either a refund or a credit.
-“For all other cases, refunds will be issued once an opinion on the passenger’s fitness to fly certificate is received from the airline’s aerospace medicine specialist/aerospace medicine specialist certified by the DGCA.”
The revisions to the norms come against the backdrop of growing passenger complaints about not receiving refunds on time, especially after widespread IndiGo flight disruptions in December 2025.
During the IndiGo disruptions, the Ministry of Civil Aviation directed the airline to complete refunds within a stipulated timeline.
In December 2025, scheduled airlines received a total of 29,212 passenger complaints, of which 7.5 percent were related to refunds. During that month, domestic airlines carried over 1.43 crore passengers, according to DGCA data cited in the PTI report.
