National carrier Air India still owes about Rs 250 crore as travel refunds to passengers due to COVID-19-induced travel restrictions.
The airline said the process of issuing refunds had begun from July, even as revenues were “severely hit” during the second wave of the pandemic, The Economic Times has reported.
“Air India is opening automated refunds in India and abroad. We have cleared about Rs 130 crore of refunds in the previous month and are planning to expedite the process”
IndiGo has cleared the refunds process for customers who were affected by the travel restrictions in March 2020, the report said.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, lockdowns and travel restrictions have forced many passengers to cancel or modify travel plans.
Travel operators and online travel platforms told the paper that the process of getting refunds to pass on to customers has been delayed for Air India. The travel companies have been receiving refund amounts from other airlines in tranches.
“It seems that to manage cash flows, Air India has been delaying refunds of passengers. The period of opening a window for refunds from Air India has been highly limited. The speed is not optimal.”
a travel service operator told The Economic Times
“Refunds with Air India have been a major problem and all travel operators have been facing this issue. We have not been facing delay issues with Go First and SpiceJet.”
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Information inputs from moneycontrol
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