Tickets Bought Using Demonetised Notes Non-refundable: Airlines

The civil aviation regulator on Thursday directed all domestic airlines to sell only "non-refundable" tickets which are bought using the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes at their airport counters.

According to industry sources, the instruction was issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after a spike in business class ticket booking using old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was witnessed.

The new guidelines are seen as a step to curb any alleged misuse of the facility provided by the government to allow purchase of air tickets for immediate travel needs in the wake of currency demonetisation.

Following the new guideline, various domestic airlines said that tickets bought with old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes are strictly "non-refundable."

The clarity regarding the refund status came after a sudden spike was noticed in ticket bookings at airport counters.

On November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that hospitals, railway, bus and airlines ticket counters will continue to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 old notes for the next 72 hours.

Modi announced these measures to smoothen the transition process of his major step for curbing the menace of black money in the country.