Comesa Competition Commission Now Investigates Airlines For Withholding Refunds On Cancelled Flights During Covid-19: All You Need To Know

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Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Withholding refunds connected cancelled flights

B) Major Developments: Focus Shifts connected Africa’s COMESA Region The COMESA region is successful nan spotlight successful nan latest improvement amidst COVID-19 related abuses arsenic nan COMESA Competition Commission (CCC) launches an investigation into airlines failing to refund tickets for flights which were cancelled during nan COVID-19 lockdown. The probe, looking into why carriers person not refunded passengers, is designed to make judge nan continent’s user authorities successful nan affiliated 21 COMESA nations are safeguarded.

The COMESA Competition Commission (CCC), whose instruction is to beforehand title successful nan region, has invited aggrieved passengers to taxable their complaints. It believes immoderate airlines whitethorn person surgery user protection laws aft declining to refund consumers for unused tickets erstwhile recreation was upended successful 2020 and 2021. These years were marked by nan immense standard of formation cancellations arsenic worldwide recreation crushed to a abrupt extremity because of nan spreading pandemic.

The Scope of nan Investigation

We person started a probe aft receiving respective complaints from passengers they are looking astatine large world airlines flying successful nan COMESA region, and these are Kenya Airways, TunisAir, Malawi Airlines, Zambia Airways and Uganda Airlines among others,”(COMESA) Secretariat spokesperson Mwangi Gakunga is quoted to person said. The airlines operating successful nan communal marketplace are not among nan 11 connected nan COMESA radar and are Kenya Airways, EgyptAir and Ethiopian Airlines, nan spokesperson is further quoted. The watchdog did not disclose correct distant which airlines were nether individual reappraisal but confirmed that each airlines had ceased operations successful 2020, resulting successful wide formation cancellations.

Consumer Complaints Spark Investigation

In a connection to nan nationalist connected Monday, nan COMESA Competition Commission invited passengers from nan 21 personnel states specified arsenic Kenya, Egypt, Uganda and Ethiopia to study if they were denied compensation erstwhile flights were cancelled pursuing nan outbreak of nan pandemic. The committee has raised concerns that thousands of passengers were near successful nan lurch pinch nary easy avenue of compensation, pinch complaints connected nan emergence crossed nan region.

The Commission’s probe will look into whether airlines withheld refunds by relying connected ambiguous aliases strict booking conditions. They said specified position which were unclear aliases not pointed retired astatine clip of booking could person led to a breach of user rights.

Unfair Airline Practices Under Scrutiny

The COMESA Competition Commission has expressed alarmed astatine nan anticipation that definite airlines mightiness person falsified nan rules, regulations and laws successful bid to flight giving retired refunds, arsenic they utilized ambiguous terminology and adverts, constrained position and coercive measures. These actions via nan charismatic newspaper of nan authorities are nan flouting of Article 27 of nan COMESA Competition Regulations, which is designed to protect consumers from unsavory business practices, NOT FOR THEM TO ABUSE nan Consumer arsenic they are doing during this pandemic, putting speech that nan prices they are fixing are thing short of daylight robbery of nan already struggling masses, he added.

Such actions whitethorn represent exploitative behaviour whereby consumers are misled arsenic to their rights, said nan Commission said successful its answer, peculiarly because of nan truth that conditions are modified successful specified a measurement arsenic to use nan airline, pinch passengers having nary due alternatives according to them. Travelers impacted by these measures are asked to study complaints to COMESA for further action.

International Framework Of Airline Refund Problems

Around nan world, nan airlines’ believe this twelvemonth of withholding refunds for canceled flights during nan pandemic classed arsenic a awesome sore constituent among travelers who recovered it reliable to get refunds. Governments and regulatory authorities person been forced to intervene successful countries passim nan world to instrumentality regulations and rumor recommendations to guarantee and support user rights. In nan aftermath of this, nan investigation by nan COMESA Competition Commission offers citizens of nan region a chance to mobility airlines’ often misleading and unfair practices.

What Airlines Can Do About Consumer Anxiety

In a statement, COMESA said that nan airlines that run successful nan region are required to align their ticketing income policies pinch nan requirements of nan user protection laws. They request to process refunds for cancelled flights, erstwhile they person not delivered nan service! COMESA Competition Commission advises that airlines should pass their position and conditions, specially connected refunds to alteration passengers to cognize what is owed to them.

The Commission has besides urged passengers to study different group charging them unfairly for formation cancellations. Not only will this thief successful solving nan issues successful existent cases — it includes fines for erstwhile airlines don’t comply pinch section rules.

Protecting Regional Passengers: The Role of COMESA

The COMESA Competition Commission said that it is moving to guarantee that authorities of passengers are upheld successful a region, which connect overmuch value to transverse separator aviation operations. Though recreation recovers from nan pandemic, it’s bully proposal to airlines to support their policies clear and adjacent and besides to refund money promptly. By doing so, they will not only comply pinch regulations but besides regain customer spot and lend to nan semipermanent maturation of nan aviation manufacture wrong nan COMESA region.

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