New Delhi: The disruption at IndiGo entered its fifth day on Saturday, with the airline cancelling more than 800 domestic flights even as the Centre imposed a temporary cap on airfares and directed immediate refunds for affected passengers.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, IndiGo’s on-time performance slipped by 3.7 per cent across six major metro airports on Friday. The ministry warned that regulatory action would follow if the airline failed to comply with government directives.
In a detailed advisory issued on Saturday, the ministry instructed IndiGo to process refunds for all cancelled or disrupted flights by 8 pm on Sunday. It also directed the airline to ensure that any baggage separated from passengers due to cancellations be delivered within the next 48 hours.
Airlines have additionally been told not to levy rescheduling charges on passengers whose travel plans were hit by the cancellations.
IndiGo said in a statement that it was resolving customer refund concerns “on a priority basis”. It added that the number of cancellations on Saturday had dropped to under 850, a slight improvement from the previous day, and that efforts were underway to reduce disruptions further in the coming days.
The ministry has also ordered the creation of a dedicated passenger assistance and refund facilitation cell. These help desks will proactively contact affected customers and arrange refunds or alternate travel without requiring repeated follow-ups.
“The automatic refund system will remain active until operations are fully stabilised,” the ministry said.
