- IndiGo suspended all flights across India causing widespread passenger complaints
- Passengers reported large deductions from refunds despite IndiGo's promise of full waiver
- IndiGo issued an apology promising automatic full refunds for cancellations between December 5 and 15
IndiGo is not out of the woods yet. The airline owned by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd which stopped all flights across India today has been lacerated by complaints from people who had to cancel their flight tickets - only to find a huge deduction from the refunded amount.
Many passengers posted screenshots of the refund receipt and other material showing the terms of refund to prove their allegations that IndiGo promised no deductions but did it anyway.
They demanded the airline - which they called a "liar" - to refund the full fare immediately.
GreyLabs AI CEO Aman Goel in a post on X asked how IndiGo can possibly claim it is giving 100 per cent refund after deducting Rs 8,718 from the airfare.
"Care to explain the deduction?" he asked, tagged the official IndiGo handle and posted a copy of IndiGo's statement apologising to passengers.
IndiGo's apology, which also had a 'namaste' emoji, in very clear terms stated: "We will ensure that all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment. We will offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests of your bookings for travel between December 5 to 15, 2025," IndiGo said.
Many passengers who received refunds after the deductions also posted angry messages tagging IndiGo. They said they felt cheated.
"Hey IndiGo, you're charging for ticket cancellations not providing full refunds. Tried to change on the website for a flight on December 10," fitness coach Kaustubh Radkar said in a post on X. He also shared the same IndiGo apology that mentioned it would "offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests..."
Uththra Sridharan, director at Global Remote group and Full House Entertainment, said she paid Rs 17,000 for a round trip and she wanted to cancel the onward leg scheduled on Saturday, but expressed surprised at the deduction and questioned IndiGo over what it thinks of the meaning "zero cancellation".
"...I want to cancel my onward [flight] tomorrow giving you a benefit of doubt about my scheduled return flight for Monday and hence leaving it as it is. My onward fare was Rs 10,000 and you are taking Rs 9,000 from that? What zero cancellation then?" Sridharan said.
Another passenger, Harisha Bhat, said he booked a flight just 11 hours ago and the terms clearly said zero cancellation, yet the deduction felt like IndiGo was "ripping customers".
"Booking was made just 11 hours ago, clearly says cancellation charges are zero (DGCA rule very clear), flight departure not in less than seven days, how are you charging a whopping Rs 16,000 cancellation charge? Ripping customers much?" he posted on X along with a screenshot of the deduction.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu today held IndiGo's mismanagement regarding its crew, with respect to the new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) regulations issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), responsible for the disruption of its operations across the country.
He said a committee has been formed to look into the disruption and inquire where things went wrong. Whoever is responsible for the present situation needs to pay for it, he added.
