The airline ticketing industry is facing the brunt of COVID-19 that has crippled the airline industry. Despite a direction from the ministry of civil aviation to pay cash refunds for cancelled tickets, which are booked from March 25 for travel up to May 17, the low-cost airlines are giving refunds only in the “virtual wallets” to travel agents, online travel aggregators (OTAs), and credit shells to passengers for future travel.
The move has pushed OTAs and travel agents into deep trouble. Many OTAs and travel agents are facing severe cash crunch as they are forced to pay the refund amount for cancelled tickets to passengers from their pockets.
