What Changes Has DGCA Made To Air Ticket Cancellation And Change Policies?

10 Mar, 2026

DGCA's New Rules for Cancellations for Indian Passengers.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the statutory regulatory authority responsible for overseeing civil aviation in India, ensuring that operations are conducted safely. Furthermore, the regulatory body has recently implemented lenient policies for Indian passengers, permitting them to cancel or modify bookings within an extended timeframe. Previously, passengers could request amendments within the first 24 hours; however, under the new regulations, they are entitled to complimentary flight modifications and cancellations for up to twice that period. Learn more about the new policy in the subsequent sections below, where the complete set of rules will be presented along with the dedicated link to the PDF.

What do DGCA’s new Cancellation rules suggest?

DGCA has decided to impose new rules following a large number of complaints about refund issues. Though the regulatory body will not interfere with airlines' commercial practices, due to a rise in refund complaints, it is issuing specific affirmative guidelines. Below, the newly imposed rules have been mentioned just as they have been mentioned in the DGCA’s official PDF:

If the flight ticket was paid for with a credit card, the airline shall issue the refund within 7 days of the cancellation request.
If the mode of payment was cash, refunds must be made at the earliest from the airline, to the source from which the ticket was purchased.
If the flight ticket was purchased through a travel agent/portal, refunds shall be provided within 14 working days.
For an unused ticket/cancellation/non-utilization/no-show, airlines must also return the statutory taxes, User Development Fee, Passenger Service Fee, and other fees. This rule shall apply to all types of fares, including promo/special fares and non-refundable fares.
Airlines must provide a “Look-in option” for a period of 48 hours after booking the flight ticket. Throughout this period, passengers may cancel or modify their flight ticket without charge, but only at the prevailing normal fares. This rule will not include flights with a scheduled departure less than 7 days for domestic flights and 15 days for international flights.
The decision to retain the refund amount in a credit shell by the airline shall be at the passenger's discretion and not the airline's standard practice.
The airlines must clearly disclose the refundable amount permitted upon ticket cancellation. For this, the amount and its total breakdown may be specified either on the ticket itself or via a separate form designated for this purpose. Additionally, the airline shall display the policy and refund amount on its official website.
Any cancellation fee or charges must be mentioned exclusively at the time of booking.
Under any circumstances, the airlines must not impose cancellation charges exceeding the basic fare and the fuel surcharges. This doesn’t include charges applied by the travel agent, which are usually fully disclosed at the time of booking. The airlines shall be liable to disclose this information through their contacts with travel agents/portals.
The airlines should not be implying any additional charges or fees for processing the refund.
Foreign carriers that operate to/from India must provide refunds for tickets in accordance with the policy of their country of origin, and the refund mode shall be as per the above-mentioned pointers.
Airlines should also not apply any additional charges for name corrections for the same person after an error is found, within 24 hours of making the booking.
In case the ticket is requested for cancellation due to a medical emergency, where the passenger or a co-passenger listed on the same ticket is admitted to or hospitalized, airlines shall provide a refund or a credit shell. In all other situations, refunds will be provided upon submission of a fitness certificate from an Aerospace Medicine specialist.