U.S. regulator fined Air India $1.4 million for extreme delays in passenger refunds
Company: Air India Limited
Summary
On November 14, 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a consent order finding that Air India routinely failed to provide timely refunds for flights to or from the United States that the airline cancelled or significantly changed. The Department ordered Air India to cease and desist from similar violations and assessed a $1.4 million civil penalty. The Department's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection received more than 1,900 complaints beginning in March 2020. Its investigation found that Air India took more than 100 days to process most refund requests associated with those complaints. Air India admitted that it had also failed to provide timely refunds to passengers who requested them directly from the airline. DOT concluded that these practices violated U.S. prohibitions on unfair practices in air transportation and the customer-service-plan requirements governing prompt refunds. Air India stated that pandemic-related office closures, travel restrictions, the volume of refund requests and difficulties obtaining information from some passengers had impeded processing. It also said it had maintained a comparatively liberal refund-on-request policy and had waived fees for refunds worth more than $98 million. Nevertheless, Air India agreed to the consent order to avoid litigation. Because the order is a negotiated consent resolution, this record distinguishes the Department's determination and Air India's admissions about delay from any broader claim of intentional deception. It does not imply that every refund request was delayed or unlawfully handled. Primary source — U.S. Department of Transportation consent order: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-11/Air%20India%20Order%202022-11-9.pdf
Record details
- Category
- Deceptive Practices
- When it happened
- March 2020–November 14, 2022
- Status
- Resolved (November 14, 2022)
- Severity
- high
- Added to Rotten Company
Source
No source document is attached to this record. It was approved under our moderation guidelines.