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Regulator goes after airlines over pandemic era fare refunds
Airlines within Comesa that may have denied refunds now face similar penalties, as the Commission analyses the complaints and submissions it has requested from affected passengers.
Travellers whose flights were cancelled during Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 may soon get a reprieve, after the region’s consumer protection watchdog launched a probe into airlines that failed to refund tickets.
The Comesa Competition Commission (CCC) on Monday invited passengers across its 21 member states, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Uganda, to formally lodge complaints if they were denied refunds for cancelled flights, as it began investigations into what it terms unfair treatment of consumers.
The key airlines operating international flights within the bloc include Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir, TunisAir, RwandAir, Malawi Airlines, Zambia Airways, and Uganda Airlines.
“The Comesa Competition Commission has become aware that several passengers affected by Covid-19-related flight cancellations were denied refunds or compensation for unused tickets by some airlines operating in the Comesa region,” CCC said in a public notice.
Although the watchdog did not name specific airlines under scrutiny, all carriers were grounded during the global lockdowns that began in March 2020, forcing mass cancellations of scheduled flights. Most airlines are contractually obligated to issue timely refunds in such situations, based on their own policies.
The CCC, however, believes some carriers may have relied on “unfair” terms and conditions to reject refund claims, potentially breaching regional consumer protection laws.
“The commission is concerned that the concerned airlines may have engaged in misleading conduct, a possible violation of Article 27 of the Comesa Competition Regulations, especially where the terms were not disclosed to consumers at the time of booking or where those terms had a misleading effect,” it said.
It added that airlines may also have engaged in “unconscionable conduct,” breaching its regulations, if they used unfair tactics, coercion, or deceptive practices, or if their booking terms granted them undue advantage at the expense of passengers. Globally, complaints about withheld refunds after pandemic flight cancellations surged, prompting regulatory action.
The US Department of Transportation, for instance, reported in 2022 that complaints about airlines surged 300 percent in 2021, topped by failure to refund the cancelled tickets.
British Airways, South African Airways, and Air France–KLM have recently been fined up to $1.1 million (approximately Sh142 million at current exchange rates) each by the United States Department of Transportation for failing to refund customers.
Airlines within Comesa that may have denied refunds now face similar penalties, as the Commission analyses the complaints and submissions it has requested from affected passengers.
“The submissions will help the Commission to investigate related consumer rights violations and take enforcement action against airlines that failed to comply with their obligations,” the CCC said.
