Tourism ministry directs OTAs and industry bodies to develop SOPs and transparent policies to process refunds

The union tourism ministry has instructed online travel agents and industry bodies to create transparent refund policies and standard operating procedures to handle air ticket cancellation refunds, following numerous complaints from travellers. The ministry has written to companies such as MakeMyTrip, Yatra, EaseMyTrip, Thomas Cook and Cleartrip and industry bodies including Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), stating there is an “urgent need” to bring in transparency in the cancellation refund process.