Jet Airways will validate ticket refund claims within 45 days, the airline informed travel agents on Tuesday. Jet Airways stopped operations last week disrupting travel plans of thousands of passengers. For a majority of them the only recourse is refunds.
The airline said a web interface has been created and agents have been asked to submit claims till May 20. "All refund claims will be validated by Jet Airways within 45 days as per International Air Transport Association (IATA) procedure. IATA will settle the monies post closure of Jet's refund claim review period against the deposit held by IATA. IATA will raise a demand from Jet should there be a shortfall in refund claim and the deposit held by IATA," Jet said in a circular to agents.
A similar format has been devised for ticket sales made with travel agency's credit cards. "The refunds due to card members will be validated by Jet and cleared by card companies each Monday," the airline said.
Jet has around Rs 800 crore held up with credit card companies and International Air Transport Association. The amount due from ticket sales was not being remitted to the airline given the possibility of a default.
Last week IATA suspended Jet Airways from its billing and settlement plan and cargo accounts settlement system around the world. Agents use these mechanisms to make remittances to airlines on a weekly basis. Agents were deducting refund amount while making the remittances till it was suspended from the system. Infact agents claim refunds were regular till first week of April as long as airline was operating its flights but had expressed concern over delays.
"We fear any delay by the agencies that do not act urgently may be asked by IATA to deal with refunds directly with the airline. In this case the process to get a refund may be longer and risky," Travel Agents Association of India said it a communication to its members last week.
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