In India, low cost airlines came up with a way to make more money. If a passenger booked a ticket and proceeded to travel on the airline, then well and good. However, if the consumer decided to cancel the ticket, then this would be a good way to make some more money. So do 2 things, either make the proceed of money refund so difficult that in some cases the passenger would give up and not claim the money back, or claim that the passenger cannot get a refund and the only way is to get a coupon that would entitle you to travel again on the airline. This can be a problem when you really don’t have plans of using the coupon, since they would expire in some time and that money is gone. I have faced both those issues when I booked travel via SpiceJet and Go. The trip got canceled, and it took around 4 months to get my money back from SpiceJet after some calls including some frustrating conversations where they asked for all sorts of information and twice claimed that their systems were down. With regard to Go, they gave me some coupon redeemable on another flight, and I could not use those (and I regret not forcing the issue by going to a consumer forum for help).
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In the Indian air travel market, there are a number of low cost carriers (also known as discount airlines) that charge very low fares (or rather, they announce low fares, and then charge extra for fuel surcharge and taxes). If you have booked a ticket, and go through with you flight on the low fare, then you feel happy. However, from time to time, one gets to hear of people who had a bad time or who went through an experience that is not exactly consumer friendly; airlines consider this par for the course since they claim that the fare is low and one should not expect the same experience as one gets in full fare. However, one can expect that food and other such comforts may not be available in discount airlines, but basic consumer handling should be proper. In this case, a customer was told that his ticket had been canceled, and he had to pay extra for a regular ticket. As a result, he filed a complaint in the the consumer forum and got compensation:
“National Consumer Helpline” has been set in the University of Delhi with support from the Department of Consumer Affairs, Govt. of India and with financial assistance from Consumer Welfare Fund. A tool free number -1800 11 4000 (available from MTNL and BSNL phones) has been setup for this purpose. The project recognizes the need of consumers for a Telephone Helpline to deal with a host of problems arising in their day-to-day dealings with business and service providers. Consumers from any part of the country can dial the toll free number 1600 11 4000 from any BSNL or MTNL telephone line between 9 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on all working days, according to the Commissioner Civil Supplies.
The Helpline advises consumers on dealing with problems related to defective products, deficiency in services and unfair trade practices. The Helpline helps in a number of different areas:
Service Sector: LPG, Electricity, Telecom, Banking, Insurance, Credit cards, Automobiles, Postal, Courier, water, Transport, Education and Medical etc.
Products: Domestic Home Appliances in the range of computers, handycam, Acs, Microwave, Television, Coolers, Fans, Washing Machines, Gas burner, Water Purifier, Mobile Phone, VCD/DVD/CD Player, Food Processor, Invertors and Shoes etc.