Centre calls airlines, travel portals to discuss consumer grievances regarding 'unfair trading practice' on Nov 8

New Delhi [India], October 26 : The Centre has called a meeting for November 8 with senior officials from airlines and travel portals that facilitate airline bookings to address consumer-related issues, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said on Thursday.
Singh also said that approximately 10,000 complaints related to the airline sector have been registered through the government's National Consumer Helpline in the last one year and about half of the complaints are regarding consumers not getting refunds from the airlines after cancellation of the ticket.
"These issues are part of unfair trading practices. So, the Centre has called the meeting with airline officials to understand the extent of the issue and will also discuss how the airlines will address these issues so that the rights of consumers can be protected," Singh said.
Several significant grievances involve airlines categorizing all seats as paid, even when free web check-in is mandatory.
"About half of the complaints are related to refunds not given after ticket cancellation and showing every seat as paid despite free web check-in, among others," he said.
Singh also said that some of the e-commerce platforms are practising dark patterns.
"Some of the e-commerce platforms are using dark patterns. UN's inter-governmental expert group of e-commerce is trying to identify these type of patterns. We are also trying to find out the tools to address the grievances," Singh added.