Flight cancelled? How to get your refund in India

When an airline cancels your flight, ask it in writing for a refund to your original payment method, and choose a credit shell only if you want one. Under the DGCA refund rules dated 24 February 2026, a credit card refund is due within seven days of cancellation and an agent or portal booking within 14 working days. If the airline does not deliver, escalate to its nodal officer, then AirSewa or the National Consumer Helpline on 1915.

This guide follows two rule documents of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), read on dgca.gov.in on 3 October 2026: the refund CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement, Section 3, Series M, Part II, Rev. 3, dated 24 February 2026, effective 26 March 2026) and the disruption CAR (Part IV, Rev. 4, dated 25 January 2023, effective 15 February 2023), which applies to all scheduled and non-scheduled operators. DGCA can revise a CAR, so check the current text. This guide does not say any airline or platform has broken these rules.

Step 1: Collect your proof

Keep your ticket, PNR, payment receipt and every airline SMS or email with the time you received it, because the cancellation rules turn on how early you were told. Check that your own email or phone number is on the booking: the disruption CAR says no financial compensation is payable to passengers who gave no adequate contact information (an email id or a phone number) at booking.

Step 2: Tell the airline in writing what you want

Email the airline and name your choice. The disruption CAR says that if you are told of a cancellation at least two weeks before departure, the airline must arrange an alternate flight or refund as acceptable to you. If you are told less than two weeks before and up to 24 hours before departure, it must offer an alternate flight or refund the ticket, as acceptable to you.

For a domestic delay of more than 6 hours from the published or previously revised departure time (where that revised time was communicated more than 24 hours before the original departure), the airline must offer either an alternate flight within 6 hours or a full refund.

The refund CAR says holding the refund as a credit shell is the passenger's prerogative and not a default practice of the airline, and that the airline shall not levy any additional charge to process the refund.

Step 3: Know the refund timelines

The disruption CAR says the refund of an air ticket is to be made in accordance with the refund CAR, which sets these timelines:

• Credit card: within seven days of the cancellation, to the account of the credit card holder.
• Cash: immediately, by the airline office from where the ticket was purchased.
• Travel agent or portal: the onus of refund lies with the airline, because agents are its appointed representatives, and the airline must ensure the refund process is completed within 14 working days.

The CAR states no separate timeline for other payment modes such as UPI, debit card or net banking, so ask the airline in writing for the date it commits to. For portal bookings, raise the refund with the airline and keep the portal's booking ID too. The airline must refund all statutory taxes and the User Development Fee, Airport Development Fee or Passenger Service Fee on cancellation, non-utilisation or no show, for all fare types, including fares where the basic fare is non-refundable. A foreign carrier refunds in accordance with the regulations of its country of origin, with the mode of refund following the three rules above.

Step 4: Check what you can get back besides the refund

All figures are from the disruption CAR. Block time is the total time from the moment the aircraft first moves for take-off until it finally comes to rest at the end of the flight.

Cancellation

If you were not informed as the notice rule requires, or you missed a connecting flight booked on the same ticket number, the airline must either provide an alternate flight acceptable to you or pay compensation in addition to the full refund:

• INR 5,000 or the booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, whichever is less, for a block time of up to and including 1 hour.
• INR 7,500 or the same fare measure, whichever is less, for more than 1 hour and up to and including 2 hours.
• INR 10,000 or the same fare measure, whichever is less, for more than 2 hours.

If you had already reported for your original flight, the airline must also provide free meals and refreshments in relation to waiting time while you wait for the alternate flight. Compensation is paid in cash, by bank transfer, or, with your signed agreement, as travel vouchers.

Delay

If you checked in on time, the airline must offer free meals and refreshments in relation to waiting time when it expects a delay beyond the original or revised departure time of 2 hours or more (block time up to 2 and a half hours), 3 hours or more (more than 2 and a half and up to 5 hours), or 4 hours or more (all other flights). Where the total delay is more than 24 hours, or more than 6 hours for flights scheduled to depart between 2000 and 0300 hrs, it must also offer free hotel accommodation when necessary, including transfers. The airline is not obliged to provide these facilities if the delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The CAR sets no cash compensation amount for delay alone.

Denied boarding

This applies where more passengers with confirmed bookings reported well within the specified time than there are seats, and you are refused boarding against your will. There is no compensation if an alternate flight departs within one hour of the original time. Otherwise the airline pays 200% of the booked one-way basic fare plus airline fuel charge, up to INR 10,000, if the alternate flight departs within 24 hours, or 400% of that measure, up to INR 20,000, if it departs more than 24 hours later. If you decline an alternate flight, you get a full ticket refund and 400% of that measure, up to INR 20,000.

When no compensation is payable

The CAR says no compensation is payable where cancellation or delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond the airline's control, such as political instability, natural disaster or strikes, or is clearly attributable to air traffic control or meteorological conditions.

Step 5: Complain to the airline's nodal officer

The disruption CAR says you may complain directly to the airline if it has not provided the compensation or reasonable facilities the CAR specifies. Each airline must appoint a Nodal Officer and an Appellate Authority and display their details on its website, and every complaint registered must get a unique reference number.

Step 6: Use AirSewa and the National Consumer Helpline

The CAR says you may file the grievance on the AirSewa app or portal. The National Consumer Helpline site lists toll-free 1915 (8AM to 8PM), WhatsApp on +918800001915, an online portal and apps, and says it works in 17 languages. Never share an OTP or UPI PIN with anyone offering a "refund"; if you did, see Lost Money to a UPI Scam? Freeze Your Account and File a Complaint in the First Hour.

Step 7: File a consumer complaint

The disruption CAR says that if you are not satisfied with the resolution by the airline or AirSewa, you have liberty to complain to any statutory body or court under the relevant laws. Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, "service" includes facilities in connection with transport, and a complaint about a service provided or agreed to be provided may be filed with a District Commission, including electronically, in the district where you reside or personally work for gain. The Commission shall not admit a complaint filed more than two years after the cause of action arose, unless it is satisfied there was sufficient cause for the delay. See our guides on Got a Defective Product or Bad Service? Filing a Consumer Complaint Without a Lawyer and Amazon or Flipkart Won't Refund You? Here Is Your Actual Escalation Path.

Sources

• DGCA CAR Section 3, Series M, Part II (refund of airline tickets), Rev. 3, 24 February 2026
• DGCA CAR Section 3, Series M, Part IV (denied boarding, cancellation, delay), Rev. 4, 25 January 2023
• AirSewa, National Consumer Helpline and Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (Gazette of India), read 3 October 2026

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