Airline refunds: SBP urged to give credit card payment relief

The pandemic has brought all sorts of strange troubles for individual citizens and businesses alike. One such unique difficulty stems from cancelled flights leading to delays in airline refunds, which has hurt the liquidity of those who had purchased tickets on cash or through credit cards.
The Business Recorder has received a number of complaints from Pakistanis who had gone abroad for a short stay but they were not able to return to the country due to flight restrictions after Covid-19 started making its presence felt across the globe. As a result, the return part of their journey could not be utilised.
One Pakistani who returned via Pakistan International Airlines on a one-way ticket "costing twice as much as his original return ticket," told this newspaper that he asked for a refund from a Gulf-based airline for a ticket which he paid for online via credit card. "The airline has stated that they will give him full refund but that they will take at least two months to return the payment," he said on the condition of anonymity.
Another recent returnee who was stuck abroad due to air space closures highlighted that another Gulf-based airline which has reportedly suspended its operations till July 2020, has not reimbursed customers since March 2020.
"Credit card bills for my family's airlines tickets need to be paid in the coming months, and if I pay the tickets then the reimbursement I get will merely be an increase in my credit limit, which I don't intend to spend in near future anyway, given the tight economic conditions," he said, adding that he essentially wants banks and airlines to understand the liquidity issues faced by the consumers.
Consumers who had purchased tickets on cash are demanding airlines to make urgent refunds. However, some airlines, which are also stuck in liquidity crises, are instead offering to extend the validity of the tickets instead of giving cash refunds. Some consumers, on the other hand, are requesting the central bank to give a directive to commercial banks to allow deferred payment for airline tickets.
"We request the State Bank to initiate a programme for consumers as part of Covid-19 emergency response giving us a leeway of at least two months on our credit card payments outstanding for airline tickets without charging us heavy interest rates applicable on credit cards, as this issue is being faced by Pakistanis all around the world now," a couple who just returned from abroad told Business Recorder. In addition, consumers are also asking banks to forgo the 3 percent Optional Issuer Fee (OIF) which is charged even when airlines refund the claim.