IndiGo will begin compensating passengers affected by large-scale flight cancellations earlier this month starting next week, following directions from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, according to a report by The Economic Times.

The decision was taken after a high-level review meeting chaired by Aviation Secretary Samir Sinha, during which the government asked the airline to ensure that compensation reaches all eligible passengers without further delay.

As part of the relief measures, IndiGo will start issuing travel vouchers worth INR 10,000 from December 26 to passengers who were severely impacted and stranded at airports for several hours on December 3, 4 and 5. These vouchers will be provided in addition to the mandatory compensation of INR5,000 to INR10,000, as prescribed under government norms.

Officials said that compensation payments should begin within a week for passengers who booked their tickets directly through IndiGo’s website, as the airline already has their personal and payment details. IndiGo has also been instructed to collect passenger information from travel agents and online travel agencies (OTAs) to ensure that compensation is paid directly to all affected customers.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been tasked with ensuring that every eligible passenger receives the compensation due to them. The civil aviation ministry will monitor the process through its Air Seva grievance redressal portal, which will be used to track pending complaints and address delays in payments.

While IndiGo has initiated refunds for cancelled flights, many passengers who booked tickets through OTAs are still waiting to receive their money. This has highlighted coordination gaps between airlines, booking platforms and banks.

Some passengers have complained that although IndiGo initiated refunds, OTAs did not complete the required steps for banks to reverse payments or restore credit card reward points. IndiGo executives said the airline has issued full refunds without any deductions and that the responsibility of transferring the refunded amount to passengers lies with the OTAs.

However, leading online travel platforms such as MakeMyTrip have already started issuing refunds even before receiving payments from IndiGo. According to the report, MakeMyTrip has processed refunds worth nearly INR 10 crore so far. Last week, the DGCA directed all OTAs to ensure that passengers receive full refunds without any deductions.

Between December 1 and December 9, IndiGo cancelled 4,354 flights. Of these, 2,507 flights, including 2,456 domestic and 51 international services were cancelled on December 3, 4 and 5 alone.

Based on an average of 150 passengers per flight, more than 3.8 lakh passengers could be eligible for travel vouchers. This could push the total compensation payout to over INR 376 crore, excluding compensation for flight delays.

The government has said it will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure that passengers receive timely refunds and compensation, and that airlines and booking platforms follow passenger protection norms strictly.