Govt revises air ticket refund norms:Cancel or change air tickets without paying additional charge within 48 hours of booking

Passengers can now cancel or change air tickets without paying additional charges within 48 hours of making the bookings subject to certain conditions. The aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised the ticket refund norms for airlines. “During this period a passenger can cancel or amend the ticket without any additional charges, except for the normal prevailing fare for the revised flight for which the ticket is sought to be amended.
“This facility shall not be available for a flight whose departure is less than 7 days for domestic flight and 15 days for international flight from booking date when ticket is booked directly through airline website,” the regulator said. Correct your name on ticket without additional charges payment within 24 hours DGCA also said that airlines should not levy any additional charges for correction in the name of the same person when the error is pointed out by the passenger within 24 hours of making the booking, when the ticket is booked directly through the airline’s website. Passengers should approach airline for refunds even if tickets are booked via other portals like Book My Trip, Ixigo, others “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. What if passenger cancels ticket due to medical emergency? There are also changes with respect to norms for ticket cancellations due to a medical emergency faced by the passenger. Why govt changes refund norms? The government has made the changes against the backdrop of the rising passenger complaints about not receiving refunds on time. 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.