India
India pays cash for cancellation and denied boarding, not for delay. Cancellation inside two weeks pays ₹5,000, ₹7,500 or ₹10,000 by block time, capped at the fare. Denied boarding pays 200% or 400% of the fare, capped at ₹10,000 or ₹20,000.
Check your own flight against the DGCA CAR →Who it covers
- Flights departing India, and flights to India on an Indian carrier.
- The requirements bind every scheduled operator licensed to fly in India, foreign carriers included, for departures from Indian airports.
- A delay does not pay cash. It entitles you to care, and to a refund once the delay passes six hours.
What it pays
| Distance or situation | Per passenger |
|---|---|
| Cancellation — block time up to 1 hour | ₹5,000 |
| Cancellation — 1 to 2 hours | ₹7,500 |
| Cancellation — over 2 hours | ₹10,000 |
| Denied boarding, re-booked within 24 hours | 200% of fare, max ₹10,000 |
| Denied boarding, later than that | 400% of fare, max ₹20,000 |
What triggers it
Cancellation notified inside two weeks
The compensation is capped at the one-way basic fare plus the fuel charge, whichever is lower — so on a cheap ticket you receive the fare, not the headline figure. More than two weeks' notice, or an alternative within the published window, and nothing is due.
Denied boarding against your will
The strongest claim under the CAR, and it is computed from your fare rather than from distance. If the airline puts you on a flight departing within one hour of the original, nothing is owed at all.
Delay pays care, not cash
This is the point most sites get wrong about India. Meals and refreshments scale with the wait, a hotel is owed where the delay runs overnight, and past six hours you may take a full refund instead. But there is no fixed delay payment.
Duty of care — separate from compensation
Meals and refreshments in proportion to the wait, and hotel accommodation with transfers where a delay runs past the night or the re-booked departure is the next day. Past six hours you may elect a full refund rather than wait.
The refusals airlines send, and what answers them
“Extraordinary circumstances”
The CAR carves out events beyond the airline's control — weather, security, air traffic restrictions, political instability. Crew shortages and commercial decisions are not in that list, and the burden of showing the cause sits with the airline.
“You were re-booked, so nothing is owed”
Only if the alternative fell inside the published window — within one hour for denied boarding, or the specified band for cancellation. Ask for the exact times in writing and check them against the rule.
“The cap means you get nothing”
The cap limits the payment to your fare; it does not extinguish it. On a full-fare ticket the headline figure is what you are owed.
Enforcement
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation enforces the CAR, and complaints go through the AirSewa portal, which creates a tracked record. Consumer courts handle monetary claims and are used heavily for this.
How long you have
Three years for a consumer claim. The airline is expected to answer a written grievance quickly, and AirSewa timestamps yours.
Primary sources
Read the law itself rather than anyone's summary of it, this one included. Every link below was checked on 12 September 2026.
- CAR Section 3 Series M Part IV — DGCA
- AirSewa passenger grievance portal
- Passenger charter — Ministry of Civil Aviation
By situation, rather than by statute
If you would rather start from what happened than from which law applies: my flight was cancelled · they are blaming a strike · they are blaming a technical fault · I was denied boarding · I am stuck at the airport
The other statutes
- EU261 compensation — EU261
- UK261 compensation — UK261
- Israeli Aviation Services Law — the Aviation Services Law
- US flight delay rules — US DOT rules
- Canada APPR compensation — the APPR
- Montreal Convention 1999 — the Montreal Convention
- Russia — Article 120 of the Air Code
- Türkiye — the SHY-Passenger Regulation
- Brazil — ANAC Resolution 400
- Thailand — the CAAT passenger rules
- Indonesia — Ministerial Regulation PM 89
- Saudi Arabia — the GACA customer protection rules