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In a significant victory for air travelers, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India has just created a new rule that is consumer-friendly and which starts to be applied as of February 2026: passengers are now allowed by the new rule to cancel their flight tickets without paying any cancellation fee (48 hours of booking).

The policy will be applicable to all local and international flights made directly to the company or through licensed travelling agents and online sites in India.

Key highlights:

• Zero Cancellation Fee—This means that airlines are not allowed to impose any cancellation fee provided the ticket is cancelled not more than 48 hours after booking the ticket.
• Full Refund—Money paid must be refunded in 7-10 working days, including base fare, taxes, and fees imposed by the airline.
• No Conditions—The rule is in honesto—no reason is necessary to justify cancellation.
• It is applicable to fare types of all types. It is between a non-refundable, low-cost, or flexi fare ticket; it does not make a difference, the 48-hour window still applies.

The relocation coincides with parallel time-outs or other so-called cooling-off periods in other countries such as the U.S. and the European Union, where passengers are allowed time to rethink, shop, or rectify booking mistakes without being charged. According to DGCA officials, the rule fixes common grievances of high rates of cancellation, particularly where the changes are made at the last moment or there is an error in a booking.

Indian airlines like IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Akasa Air, Vistara, and other international airlines are detailed to revise their terms and refund policy. The compliance has also been confirmed through travel portals such as MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, Yatra, and EaseMyTrip.

Customers are also encouraged to cancel via the same channel in which it was initially booked (airline website/app or agent) and retain evidence of the cancellation request. The 48-hour limiting time begins when the booking is confirmed (time of issuing the ticket).

This reform should improve the trust in the online flight tickets and ease the financial burden of the travellers. With industry analysts estimating that it will marginally raise the instances of no-shows in the short term, the long-term gains of improving consumer confidence and competition in the market are expected to exceed the short-term problems.

This reconfiguration made the procedure of booking flights much more flexible and stress-free among millions of Indian flyers.