NEW DELHI: The US has fined Tata-group owned Air India USD 1.4 million for delay in returning ticket money to American passengers affected by flight cancellations or changes during the covid-19 pandemic.
While, US has ordered Tata-group owned Air India to pay a whopping USD 121.5 million as refunds.
The US Department of Transportation said on Monday that Tata-owned Air India is among six airlines that have been directed to return a total of $600 million to passengers as refunds.
Air India has also been asked to return $121.5 million.
Officials said that Air India's provision of 'refund on request' of passengers is different from the policies of the US Department of Transportation.
According to US government regulations, airlines are required to legally refund passengers' ticket money in case of flight cancellations or changes.
In a departmental inquiry, it was found that Air India took more than 100 days to process more than half of the refund applications.
In addition to the more than USD 600 million as refunds that airlines have paid, the Department of Transportation announced that it is assessing more than USD 7.25 million in civil penalties against these six airlines for extreme delays in providing refunds.