Flight Cancellation, Lost Baggage and Travel Refunds: Your Rights

My flight was cancelled. Do I get a refund, compensation or both?

You always get one of two things when the airline cancels: a full refund of the ticket, or an alternate flight acceptable to you. The choice is yours, not the airline's. Compensation is a separate, additional payment, and it depends on how much notice you were given and why the flight was cancelled.

Under the DGCA's rules on facilities for passengers (Civil Aviation Requirements, Section 3, Series M, Part IV), airlines are expected to tell passengers about a cancellation at least two weeks before departure. If they inform you between two weeks and 24 hours before, they must offer an alternate flight departing within two hours of your original time, or a refund. If you are told less than 24 hours before departure, or at the airport, and no such alternate is accepted, the airline must pay compensation as well as the refund or alternate flight.

The compensation is fixed by the length of the flight (block time): ₹5,000 for a flight of up to one hour, ₹7,500 for one to two hours, and ₹10,000 for more than two hours, or the one-way basic fare plus fuel charge, if that is less. It is not payable where the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond the airline's control, which is where most disputes start.

DGCA passenger rules at a glance

These figures come from the current Civil Aviation Requirements. Airlines' own conditions of carriage can give more, never less.

The DGCA amends these requirements from time to time, so check the current revision on its website before writing to the airline. Quote the specific rule in your complaint; airlines respond differently to a passenger who cites the CAR than to one who simply asks for "compensation".

My flight was delayed for hours. What does the airline owe me?

For a delay alone, the DGCA rules give you facilities, not cash. Meals and refreshments become due after two, three or four hours of delay, depending on whether the flight's block time is up to two and a half hours, up to five hours, or longer. Hotel accommodation, with transfers, becomes due when a delay runs beyond 24 hours, or beyond six hours for a flight scheduled between 8 pm and 3 am.

The more useful right is the six-hour rule. If a domestic flight is delayed by more than six hours and you were told less than 24 hours before the original departure, the airline must offer either an alternate flight within six hours of the revised time or a full refund. Many passengers sit through an eight-hour delay without knowing they could have taken their money back and booked elsewhere.

A long delay can still lead to compensation through a consumer commission, where the delay caused you real loss (a missed connecting flight on a separate ticket, a missed exam or interview, a hotel booking lost) and the airline failed to inform you, look after you or explain. Commissions look at how the airline behaved during the delay, not only at the length of it.

Denied boarding and overbooking: what are your rights?

Airlines sell more seats than the aircraft holds, on the expectation that some passengers will not turn up. When everyone does, the airline must first ask for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for benefits it offers. Only if there are not enough volunteers can it deny boarding to passengers against their will, and then it owes compensation.

If you are denied boarding involuntarily despite having a confirmed ticket and reporting on time, the compensation is 200% of the one-way basic fare plus fuel charge (up to ₹10,000) if the airline puts you on a flight departing within 24 hours, and 400% (up to ₹20,000) if the alternate flight is later. If you refuse the alternate, you get a full refund plus 400%. No compensation is due if the alternate departs within an hour.

Airlines sometimes record an involuntary denial as a "no-show" or as a late check-in. Keep proof of when you arrived at the counter: a boarding pass timestamp, a photo of the queue with the departure board, or a message you sent at the time. Ask the staff to write "denied boarding" on your ticket or give you a written reason. Without that, a valid claim becomes your word against theirs.

Weather, fog and "extraordinary circumstances": when the airline does not pay

The DGCA rules excuse an airline from paying cancellation compensation where the cancellation was caused by events beyond its control: political instability, natural disasters, civil disturbance, flight safety issues, strikes affecting the operation, weather, and air traffic control decisions, among others. In those cases the airline must still give you a refund or alternate flight, but not the fixed compensation, and the meals and hotel obligations may also fall away.

This is the exception airlines reach for most often, especially during Delhi's winter fog season. It does not cover everything. A crew shortage, a scheduling decision, an aircraft that was not serviced in time or a commercial decision to merge two flights are within the airline's control. When Advocate B.K. Singh reviews an airline's reply to a client, the first thing he asks for is the actual reason recorded for the cancellation, because "operational reasons" or "reasons beyond our control" in a form email is not the same as proof that the weather closed the destination airport.

Ask the airline in writing for the specific cause and for whether other flights operated on the same sector that day. If other flights from the same airport to the same city departed while yours was cancelled, the weather explanation weakens. A consumer commission can draw conclusions from an airline's failure to produce its own records.

How long should an airline take to refund a ticket?

New DGCA refund rules (Civil Aviation Requirements, Section 3, Series M, Part II) issued on 24 February 2026 took effect on 26 March 2026, and they apply to Indian airlines and foreign airlines flying to and from India. For tickets paid by credit card, the refund must reach the cardholder's account within 7 days of cancellation. For cash purchases at an airline office, it must be paid immediately at that office. For tickets bought through a travel agent or portal, the airline is responsible for the refund, since the agent acts as its representative, and the process must be completed within 14 working days.

Several other points in the 2026 rules matter in disputes. Statutory taxes and airport charges (the User Development Fee, Airport Development Fee and Passenger Service Fee) must be refunded on cancellation, non-use or no-show, for every fare type, including non-refundable promotional fares. Cancellation charges must be shown at booking and cannot exceed the basic fare plus fuel surcharge. No separate fee can be charged for processing a refund.

There is also a 48-hour look-in option: for tickets booked directly with the airline, you can cancel or change within 48 hours of booking without a cancellation charge (paying only any fare difference for a new flight), provided the departure is at least 7 days away for a domestic flight or 15 days for an international one. A name correction reported within 24 hours of a direct booking is free. If you or a family member on the same booking is hospitalised during the travel period, the airline may offer a refund or credit shell.

I booked through a travel portal. Who refunds me, the airline or the agent?

Under the 2026 rules, the airline is responsible for refunds of tickets sold through its agents, and the 14 working day limit applies. In practice, the money still flows back through the agent or portal, which is where refunds get stuck: the airline says it has paid the agent, and the agent says it is waiting for the airline.

Ask each of them in writing for the date and reference of the refund. If the airline confirms it has released the amount to the agent, your claim against the agent is clear, and an online travel portal is also bound by the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020, including the duty to have a grievance officer who acknowledges complaints within 48 hours. If the airline has not released it, the airline is the party in breach. In a consumer complaint, name both; the commission will sort out between them who should pay.

Portals often keep their own convenience fee even when the airline refunds the fare. Whether that fee is refundable depends on the portal's terms and on why the ticket was cancelled. Where the airline cancelled the flight, a portal that keeps a fee for a service that was never delivered is open to challenge as an unfair trade practice.

Can the airline force a credit shell instead of money?

No. The 2026 rules say a refund can be kept as a credit shell only if you choose that option; the airline cannot apply it by default. This settles a long-running complaint from the period after 2020, when many passengers found their refunds converted into credits they never asked for.

If the airline's app or website pushes you into a credit shell, write to the airline's grievance officer saying you did not opt for it and asking for a refund to the original payment method. Keep a screenshot of the cancellation screen showing the options offered. Where a credit shell has already been created without your consent, ask for it to be converted into a refund and cite the rule.

A credit shell you did choose is a contract term like any other. Check its validity date and whether it can be used for another passenger, because these conditions vary between airlines.

My bag is lost, delayed or damaged. What should I do at the airport?

Report it before you leave the arrivals hall. Go to the airline's baggage services counter with your boarding pass and baggage tag, and ask for a Property Irregularity Report (PIR). The PIR is the single most important document in a baggage claim; without it, the airline will say the bag was delivered in good condition. Make sure the PIR describes the bag, its contents in broad terms, and any damage you can see.

Photograph the bag, the damage and the tag on the spot. Note the name of the staff member and the reference number. If the bag is delayed, give a local delivery address and phone number and ask what interim expenses the airline covers (toiletries, essential clothes). Keep bills for anything you buy.

If the bag arrives later damaged or with items missing, report it in writing at once, even if you have already filed a PIR for the delay. Damage and pilferage have their own time limits, which are short.

The law behind baggage claims

Baggage claims are governed by a different set of rules from cancellations and delays.

How much can I claim for lost baggage?

Airlines usually start with an offer based on weight, which is often far below what was in the bag. Do not accept a weight-based offer as final without comparing it with the legal limit and with what you actually lost. Make a list of contents with approximate values and any bills you have; for new items, the bill; for older items, a fair estimate of depreciated value.

The legal limits are a ceiling, not an entitlement. You still have to show what was lost. For expensive items, the airline will point to its conditions of carriage, which usually say that jewellery, cash, electronics and documents should be carried in hand baggage. If you checked in a laptop, expect that argument.

The Supreme Court held in Trans Mediterranean Airways v Universal Exports (2011) that consumer commissions can hear claims against airlines even though the Carriage by Air Act applies, and commissions also award compensation for deficiency in service and harassment where the airline handled the complaint badly: no tracing, no response, a refusal to accept a PIR. How the statutory limit and such compensation fit together depends on the facts, so present both the loss and the airline's conduct.

How to escalate a refund or compensation claim, step by step

Each step creates a record that helps at the next one. Keep every acknowledgement number.

1. Write to the airline

   Email customer care with your PNR, the facts, the DGCA rule you rely on and what you want (refund, compensation, baggage claim). Attach your ticket, boarding pass, PIR and photos. Ask for a written reply within a stated time.

2. Escalate to the grievance or nodal officer

   Airlines publish the contact of a nodal officer or grievance officer and an appellate authority on their websites. If customer care sends a form reply or none at all, escalate there with your earlier reference.

3. Complain on AirSewa

   AirSewa is the Ministry of Civil Aviation's grievance portal and app. A complaint there is forwarded to the airline and tracked, which often produces a response when direct emails did not.

4. Use the National Consumer Helpline

   Call 1915 or register online. Many airlines and travel portals are convergence partners of the helpline and respond through it. It is free and pre-litigation.

5. Send a legal notice

   A short notice setting out the facts, the rule, the amount claimed and a deadline (15 days is common) gives the airline a last chance and shows the commission you acted reasonably.

6. File a consumer complaint

   File before the District Commission where you live or work, online on e-Jagriti, against the airline and, where relevant, the travel portal. No fee is payable where the value paid is up to ₹5 lakh.

The procedure for the last step is explained in filing a consumer complaint online on e-Jagriti. You do not have to go through every step before filing, but a commission will look more favourably on a passenger who gave the airline a fair chance to correct its mistake.

Foreign airlines and international flights

The DGCA refund rules apply to foreign airlines operating to and from India. For cancellation compensation and delay facilities, check whether the Indian rules, the rules of the airline's home country, or both apply to your journey; for example, a flight departing from the European Union may also be covered by EU passenger rights rules, which are generally more generous on cash compensation.

You can file a consumer complaint in India against a foreign airline that sells tickets and operates flights here, through its Indian office or general sales agent. For international baggage, the Montreal Convention limits in Special Drawing Rights apply, converted at the rate on the date of judgment.

On a journey with connecting flights on separate tickets, each airline is responsible only for its own segment. A missed connection caused by a delay on the first ticket is a problem many passengers discover too late. If you book separately, leave long gaps.

Holiday packages, hotels and tour operators

A holiday package is a contract for services, and a tour operator that cancels, changes the itinerary materially, or delivers far less than it advertised can be liable for deficiency in service. The package terms will usually contain cancellation charges and a force majeure clause. Commissions read those clauses, but they also ask whether the terms were fair, whether they were shown before payment, and whether the operator actually incurred the costs it deducted.

Keep the brochure, the itinerary sent at booking, the payment receipts and every message about changes. If the package was sold with claims that turned out to be untrue (a "sea-facing" room that faced a car park, a "5-star" hotel that was not), that can also be a misleading advertisement, which is discussed in misleading advertisements and complaints to the CCPA.

Hotel bookings made through a portal follow the same logic as flight bookings through a portal: ask both the hotel and the portal in writing where the money is, and name both if you file.

Train and bus refunds in brief

Railway ticket refunds follow the Indian Railways refund rules, and for e-tickets the refund process runs through IRCTC, with a Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) filed online in the situations the rules allow, such as a train cancelled or running very late. File the TDR within the time the rules give; late TDRs are routinely rejected.

Claims for loss of luggage or goods booked with the railways, and for deaths and injuries in railway accidents, go to the Railway Claims Tribunal. Consumer commissions have also heard complaints about railway services, such as theft from a reserved coach where the railway staff failed to prevent entry by unauthorised persons, so the right forum depends on the nature of the claim.

Private bus operators and bus booking platforms are service providers under the Consumer Protection Act. Cancellation and refund disputes with them follow the same escalation path as above.

Evidence to keep for a travel complaint

Mistakes passengers make

• Leaving the airport without a PIR. It is very hard to prove later that a bag was lost or damaged in the airline's hands.
• Missing the 7 day or 21 day notice. Write to the airline as soon as the bag arrives damaged, or as soon as you know it is delayed. A phone call is not a written complaint.
• Accepting a credit shell under pressure. You are entitled to choose a refund. Once you accept a credit shell, getting cash back is harder.
• Accepting "weather" without question. Ask for the specific reason and check whether other flights operated.
• Claiming inflated values. An honest, documented list carries more weight than a large round figure.
• Filing against only the portal or only the airline. Where both handled your money, name both and let them explain.
• Waiting too long. Both the Montreal Convention and the Consumer Protection Act give two years. Delay also makes airline records harder to obtain. See the two-year limit for consumer complaints if you are close to it.

When is a consumer complaint worth filing?

For a straightforward refund that the airline is processing late, the escalation steps usually work and a complaint may not be needed. A consumer complaint makes sense where the airline refuses compensation it clearly owes, where a refund has been stuck for months between airline and portal, where baggage losses are significant, or where the way you were treated caused real hardship, for example a family with elderly parents or a small child left at the airport overnight without help.

A commission can order the refund, the DGCA compensation, the value of lost baggage, reimbursement of expenses caused by the disruption, interest, compensation for mental agony and harassment, and litigation costs. Amounts for harassment vary widely between commissions and cases, so treat any figure you hear from others with caution.

File where you live or work, because the Act allows that. The commission's level depends on the value you paid, and for travel disputes that is almost always the District Commission, as explained in which consumer commission: pecuniary limits explained. If the airline later ignores the order, the steps are in enforcing a consumer commission order that is not obeyed.

What to do this week

• Write down the time you were told of the cancellation or delay, and save the SMS and email.
• If your bag is damaged or items are missing, send the written claim today, with photos and the PIR number.
• Email the airline citing the DGCA rule and the amount claimed; keep the reference number.
• If you booked through a portal, ask both the airline and the portal for the refund date and reference.
• Refuse a credit shell in writing if you want your money back.
• If there is no answer within a week or two, file on AirSewa and with the National Consumer Helpline (1915).
• Collect bills for hotels, meals, transport and replacement items.

Getting advice on an airline or travel claim

Most travel claims are small enough for a passenger to handle personally, and the consumer commission is designed for that. Where the amounts are larger, the airline is contesting the cause of cancellation, or the refund is lost somewhere between an airline and a portal, a short review of the papers helps decide whether a notice will do or a complaint is needed. A point Advocate B.K. Singh often makes to clients in these cases is that the airline's own records of the day, which only a commission can order it to produce, usually decide the matter. If you want the team of B.K. Singh & Associates to look at your papers, use the online legal enquiry form. The firm's consumer work is described on the consumer and competition laws page and the consumer court lawyer in Delhi page.