For instance: For a flight cancellation done within 24 hours of departure, the norms state that the airline should either provide an alternative flight or refund the ticket and pay compensation ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000, depending on the length of the journey.
For passengers who are not accommodated on an alternative flight, this compensation amount hardly covers the costs they would have to incur in buying a last-minute ticket to their destination.
On Tuesday, Sushil Patni and his wife, both senior citizens, ended up spending Rs 21,000 to book tickets on IndiGo to fly to Delhi from Indore after Vistara cancelled their flight. They were booked on an evening departure to Baku and so could not wait for a day for alternative arrangements. Under the said norms, together they would get a compensation of Rs 15,000.
Then again, the provisions mention free hotel accommodation only in case of flight delay, and not for cancellations. It states that the airline is required to provide meals and refreshments, an alternative flight/full refund of ticket to the passenger or hotel accommodation, including transfers, depending on the total flight delay. Airlines must provide hotel accommodation only if the delay is more than 24 hours or more than six hours for flights scheduled to depart between 8pm and 3am.
Passengers have been pointing these deficiencies out on social media.
Sanjay Gupta posted on X that his daughters were booked on a flight from Mopa-Goa to Delhi. “The flight has been delayed many times…daughters are still stuck there. Vistara said, take a refund. What will they do then?”.
Vamshi Papatla, an X user, posted that he spent Rs 2,400 on cab rides to and from Hyderabad and lost the money paid for a hotel booking in Mumbai after the airline cancelled his Hyderabad-Mumbai flight.
Sachin Chhabra, another passenger, posted on X: “Who will bear our hotel and other bookings expenses in case Vistara cancels our flight at the last moment?”
