New Delhi: Indian carrier IndiGo will start compensating passengers affected by widespread flight cancellations earlier this month, from next week.
The airline will begin issuing travel vouchers worth Rs 10,000 from December 26 to passengers who were severely impacted and stranded at airports for several hours on December 3, 4, and 5, according to multiple reports.
These vouchers are over and above the compensation of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 mandated under government norms. The decision was taken at a high‑level review chaired by Aviation Secretary Samir Sinha, and the government has asked IndiGo to ensure payments reach all eligible passengers without further delay.
A decision was made at the meeting that payments should begin within a week for passengers who booked directly through IndiGo’s website, since their data is already with the airline.
IndiGo was directed to collect passenger details from travel agents and online travel agencies and ensure direct payments to affected customers. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been tasked with monitoring the successful dispersion of compensation, and the civil aviation ministry will monitor the process through its Air Seva grievance portal.
While IndiGo has initiated refunds for cancelled flights, many passengers who booked through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) remain unpaid, indicating coordination gaps between airlines and booking platforms, the reports said.
MakeMyTrip had processed refunds worth nearly Rs 10 crore so far after direction from DCGA, even before receiving payments from IndiGo, the report said.
IndiGo Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta had earlier said that the airline’s Board will bring in external technical experts to work with the management and identify the root causes behind last week’s massive flight disruptions.
He said the experts will help ensure that such large-scale operational failures never happen again.
Meanwhile, the company stated that all destinations in the airline’s network have been fully connected since December 8, and operations have stabilised since December 9.
(IANS)
