Passengers will be able to cancel or modify flight tickets without penalty within 48 hours of purchase, and will no longer have to take credit amounts when claiming refunds, under revised rules issued by the Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority of India.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised ticket refund rules for airlines, imposing a 48-hour ‘look-up option’ allowing travelers to cancel or modify flight tickets without additional charges after booking.
The revised Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), Section 3, Air Transport, Series “M” Part II dated February 24, 2026, states: “The airline must provide a ‘lookup option’ for 48 hours after booking a ticket. During this period passengers may cancel or modify the ticket at no additional charge, except for the normal prevailing fare for the modified flight for which the ticket modification is requested.”
However, CAR clarified that the facility will not be available “for a flight whose departure time is less than 7 days for domestic flight and 15 days for international flight from the date of booking when the ticket is booked directly through the airline’s website.”
For travelers who book in advance, this effectively creates a cooling-off window — especially useful for misbookings, sudden plan changes, or price drops spotted soon after purchase.
The revised rules will come into effect from March 26, 2026.
The DGCA also addressed a long-standing complaint regarding airlines automatically converting refunds into credit vouchers. The revised rule states that “the option to hold the refund amount in the form of a credit by the airlines shall be the prerogative of the passenger and not a default exercise of the airline,” which favors passengers who prefer refunds rather than airline credits.
The revised refund standards also state that “airlines may not charge any additional fees to process the refund.”
“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 regulatory body also provided flexibility in cases of medical emergencies. “In the event of cancellation of tickets due to a medical emergency, where the passenger or a family member listed in the same PIR is admitted/admitted to hospital during the travel period, airlines may offer either a refund or a credit wrap,” the amended rule reads.
“For all other situations, refunds will be issued once an opinion on the passenger’s fitness to fly certificate is received from the airline’s aerospace medicine specialist/DGCA-certified aerospace medicine specialist,” it said.
The revised norms will apply to scheduled domestic and international operators as well as foreign carriers operating to and from India, the DGCA said.
