Private airlines on Friday were asked by the Supreme Court to find a way out to refund the airfare of passengers whose flights were cancelled during the lockdown.
It may be mentioned here that most of the airlines have placed passengers in a Credit Shell, according to which they could avail the travel on the same sector within the next seven months to one year.
Pravasi Legal Cell-a non-profit organisation- filed a petition in Supreme Court saying that passengers did not intend to avail of the Credit Shell and should be given a full refund.
A three-judge bench consisting of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah said that the credit facility granted by the airline companies must be for at least two years and passengers should be allowed to avail it across all sectors.
In response, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the airlines ought to make the full refund to passengers.
Appearing for SpiceJet, senior advocate Harish Salve said, “We are having zero revenue and our global earnings have been hugely hit.”
He said, in such a situation, a full refund was impossible.