The central government has asked all travel agencies to process pending consumer refunds from the Covid lockdown period by the third week of this month or face legal action.
The deadline was fixed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority in a meeting chaired by Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh on November 8.
The meeting led to the CCPA issuing refund notices to six online travel platforms – EaseMyTrip, Yatra, MakeMyTrip, HappyEasyGo, ClearTrip and Ixigo – and five travel agencies: Thomas Cook, Veena World, Keshari Tours, Neem Holidays and Mango Holidays.
While Ixigo and Thomas Cook have cleared all their refunds, others are yet to fully processed.
The government did not disclose the total amount due. However, a senior official who attended the meeting told Moneycontrol that a refund of Rs 45 crore to Rs 50 crore is due.
“We estimate that around 8,000 refunds are still pending with travel agents and travel platforms,” the official said.