CEO questions IndiGo's refund policy after Rs 8,718 deduction: 'They call it 100% refund'

Aman Goel, co-founder and CEO of GreyLabs AI, on Friday criticised IndiGo's refund process after the airline's promise of a full refund was contradicted by an unexplained Rs 8,718 deduction. In a tweet, Goel expressed his frustration, saying: "Total Deductions 'Rs. 8,718' and they call it 100% refund. @IndiGo care to explain the deduction?"

IndiGo has yet to comment on the claim. Any response from the airline will be added when received.

IndiGo, India's largest airline, continues to grapple with massive operational disruptions that have forced the cancellation of over 1,000 flights in just a single day. The airline had promised passengers a full refund for cancellations and reschedules between December 5 and 15, with the intention to help ease the inconvenience caused by the flight chaos.

"We will ensure that all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment," the airline had said in a post on X. "We will offer full waiver on all cancellations/ reschedule requests of your bookings for travel between 05 December 2025 to 15 December 2025."

In a statement addressing the crisis, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers apologised for the ongoing disruptions and acknowledged that the measures taken in the past few days had not been sufficient. "Regrettably, earlier measures of the last few days have proven not to be enough," Elbers said in a video message. "So we decided today for a reboot of all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest number of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting tomorrow onwards."

IndiGo, which typically operates around 2,300 flights daily, has been struggling with the implementation of new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms. Aviation regulator DGCA has, however, temporarily eased these norms to provide relief.

Elbers further clarified that it could take another 10 days to restore normalcy. Just a few hours before the CEO's statement, the government had assured normalcy by Saturday and full restoration of services by Monday.