Bad news for flyers! SpiceJet hikes ticket cancellation charges

New Delhi: Budget carrier SpiceJet has also increased its ticket cancellation charges by over Rs 350, days after its competitor IndiGo announced a flat charge of Rs 2,250 even as the DGCA deadline for airlines to submit their response on the issue ended on Friday.

The revised charges for cancelling a domestic ticket now stands at Rs 2,250 while for an international air ticket, it is fixed at Rs 2,500, SpiceJet said in a communication to travel agents.

The new cancellation charges are effective from April 7, it said.

Significantly, the move comes amid the civil aviation regulator--Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)-- seeking an explanation on the reasons for a flat cancellation fee and a body of air passengers Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) threatening to approach fair trade regulator, CCI for an investigation into the alleged cartelisation.

The Gurgaon-based airline had earlier been charging a fee of Rs 1,899 for cancelling a domestic ticket and Rs 2,349 for an international air ticket.

Most of the domestic carriers, including IndiGo, had increased the cancellation charges by a significant amount in February.

DGCA had written to the airlines, including the regional ones, asking them to explain the reason for increasing ticket cancellation fee, which in some cases now is almost equivalent to the air fares charged for a short-haul journey.

IndiGo had done away with the slab system in cancellation fee and announced a flat charge of Rs 2,250.

The aviation regulator had asked the airlines to file their response by today.

"We are preparing to petition to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to probe the recent hike in the ticket cancellation charges by the Indian airlines. The way these airlines have announced the increase one-by-one, the pattern definitely suggests an anti-competition practice," APAI President D Sudhakara Reddy had said.