Your hopes of getting a minimum refund of Rs 5,000 on cancellation of your flight may soon be dashed. Airline operators only want to refund the base fares and their proposal is under serious consideration thanks to some powerful lobbying.

"This means if your air ticket was bought for a base fare of Rs 500, then only that amount will be refunded," said Kanu Gohain, director general, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The DGCA, which had prescribed refunds ranging between a minimum of Rs 5,000 and Rs 12,000 in June, has since kept the issue on hold, while they consider the demands of airlines to keep the refund amount to a minimum.

A civil aviation ministry official revealed, "The ministry is under pressure to waive off the penalty clause proposed by the DGCA or reduce it to the basic fare level."

Airlines defend their demand saying they don't deliberately delay flights. Natasha Kapoor, who works as cabin crew with a low-cost carrier, said a penalty is unfair.

"We do our best to ease passengers' journey," she said. An official with Kingfisher Airlines said, "Airlines prefer keeping the refund amount to the basic fare because of the rising fuel costs."

Meanwhile, passengers like Ramesh Powar are unhappy at the possible changes in refund amount.

"If I fly from Mumbai to Delhi and back, I end up spending Rs 12,000 (base fare about Rs 6,000). Therefore, I will get only 50 per cent of my money back in case the flight is cancelled. This is unfair," rued Powar. He is among several others who have petitioned the DGCA against making any changes to the refund scheme.


Rs 5,000
The minimum refund on cancellation of your flight

Rs 8,000
The refund on travel distance between 1,500 and 3,500 km

Rs 12,000
International flights and domestic flights flying  3,500 km and above