Starting April 1, passengers flying IndiGo airlines on domestic routes will be forced to pay a charge of ₹2,250 for making any changes to their ticket or for cancelling it.
So far, the airline had a cancellation fee of ₹1,250 per ticket on domestic routes in case the changes or cancellation of the ticket is made at least a month before the travel. Within a month of travel, passengers were charged ₹2,250.
However, now irrespective of the time before travel, passengers will have to pay a fixed amount of ₹2,250 per ticket. International passengers will continue to pay ₹2,500 per ticket for cancellations.
This also makes cancellation more expensive than the ticket cost itself on many small routes. Airlines typically charge higher cancellation fee to discourage any changes made to travel plans, which allows them to plan their flights better and ensure better profitability.
However, high cancellation charges have already been under the scanner of civil aviation regulator DGCA, which initiated a probe into the charges last year when most of the airlines increased their cancellation charges. It is to be seen if the DGCA would raise an objection to a further increase in cancellation charges.