Air India Open Automated Refunds Through GDS For Travel Agents

In view of the pendency of RAs and the challenges faced by travel agents, Air India has decided to open automated refund of fully unutilized tickets and tickets covered under the Supreme Court judgment through the GDS (Amadeus and Travelport Galileo) system in a staggered manner.

The airline in a trade circular said that the automated refund process would be opened for one day on January 07, 2021, for 24 hrs. from 0100hrs till 2359hrs Indian Standard Time (1ST).

The future dates and duration will be scheduled after understanding the impact of this exercise, said Air India in the circular.

Air India clearly mentions that before processing refunds through GDS, agents must delete or remove all RAs of tickets that have not been authorized so far through the manual process.

Travel agents will also need to make sure that there are no chargeback cases pending for the document against the sale through credit card.

In case, the refund process results in multiple payments against the same document, Agency Debit Memo (ADMs) shall be raised subsequently. Moreover, agents should not raise Post Billing Dispute (PBD) against such ADMs.

Air India Guidelines For Automated Refund Through GDS

• Refunds Functionality will be opened on Travel port & Amadeus.
• Agent must delete /remove all RAs of (1) Fully un-utilized tickets (2) The tickets covered under Supreme Court judgment) that have not been authorized so far through the manual process before processing refunds as per Refund Rules through GDS.
• Agent must ensure that there are no chargeback cases pending for the document against the sale through credit card.
• In case the refund process results in multiple payments against the same document, ADMs shall be raised subsequently.
• Agents should not raise PBD against such ADMs.
• As per directions of the Hon’ble Supreme court of India, travel Agents must pass on refunds to final passengers. (Refer circular DSL/INC/101/MKGTGNR dated 13`h Oct 2020) enclosed. The tickets covered under Supreme Court judgment will get the highest priority.
• The refund amount should not exceed the weekly sale amount to avoid negative payouts to BSP/ARC.
• To limit your refunds to the extent of the sale made on a Credit Card /Cash basis respectively in the current week.(meaning cash sale/cash refund & credit sale/credit refund)

Also Read: Air India International Flights On January 07 Under Vande Bharat Mission