No refund on cash bookings at airports till Friday

With cash becoming the king at airport counters, the government has instructed airlines to make PAN cards mandatory for transactions above ~25,000. Also, bookings made via cash payment till Friday midnight have been made non-refundable.

To counter unaccounted money, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening had announced that notes of ~500 and ~1,000 will be rendered illegal. There is a window till December 30 to exchange such notes. People were allowed to use such notes at airports, railway stations and hospitals. “The government now fears black money holders will use airline counters as a loophole to transact in cash. Hence, we have been instructed to keep identification records of such transactions,” said a private airline executive.

“For cash bookings above ~25,000, customers are being asked to show their PAN cards. All cash bookings made during this period (till midnight on Friday ) are non-cancelable and non-refundable,” said a SpiceJet spokesperson. A GoAir spokesperson, too, added payments made by cash would be non-refundable. Airlines are accepting the “rendered useless” notes only for excess baggage or seat upgradation payments.

“Cash bookings at airports have more than doubled the normal rates,” said a senior executive of a private airline.