Quick answer: A cancelled bus ticket refund must reach your bank or original payment instrument within 7 working days under RBI charge-back rules and the operator's published cancellation policy. If it does not, escalate in writing to the aggregator's grievance officer (mandatory under IT Rules 2021, Rule 3(2)), then to the State RTC complaint cell or the District Consumer Commission under Consumer Protection Act 2019, §38. Carry the booking PNR, cancellation SMS, and bank statement.
A bus ticket refund delay happens when you cancelled a confirmed booking through an aggregator like RedBus, AbhiBus, Paytm Travel, MakeMyTrip, or a state road-transport-corporation portal, received a cancellation acknowledgement, but the money has not credited back to your card, UPI, or wallet within the 7 working-day window promised at checkout. It is a deficiency-of-service dispute, not a fraud.
Three statutes plus one regulator decide your refund rights:
The split-liability question is settled by the Supreme Court line in IRCTC v. R. Gandhi (consumer forum jurisdiction over online intermediaries) and the National Consumer Commission decision in MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd v. Bansal (an aggregator cannot escape liability simply by labelling itself a “facilitator”). For state RTC services, the Karnataka SCDRC in KSRTC v. Lakshmidevamma 2018 confirmed that even a statutory transport corporation is a “service provider” under the Act.
You can also use the Right to Information Act 2005 against any state-run RTC (Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, etc.) to extract internal refund file notings, because every RTC is a “public authority” under §2(h).
Case: Vijayawada to Hyderabad, AbhiBus PNR booking, fare ₹1,150, paid by UPI on 2026-01-14. Passenger Ramya, a 28-year-old IT professional from Krishna district, cancelled the next morning at 09:12 within the 24-hour free-cancellation window, received CRN ABH8772341, and was promised a refund “within 5 to 7 working days”. On day 9 (2026-01-26) the money had not credited. She emailed customer care; the bot replied with a generic ARN that her bank could not trace. On day 12 she escalated to the AbhiBus Grievance Officer citing Rule 3(2)(a) of the IT Rules 2021. On day 15 she raised a UPI dispute through her bank app. On day 19 she filed at consumerhelpline.gov.in. The refund of ₹1,150 credited on day 22 along with a goodwill voucher of ₹200. Total out-of-pocket cost ₹0; total time spent roughly 40 minutes spread over 3 weeks. Had it crossed day 45, she planned to file at edaakhil.nic.in for ₹1,150 + 12 percent interest + ₹5,000 compensation. Lesson: written escalation under the right statute compresses the timeline by half.
Use this only when your bus was operated by a state-government corporation and the refund file is stuck inside its accounts wing.
To, The Public Information Officer [Name of State Road Transport Corporation] [Headquarters Address] Sub: Application under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act 2005 Sir / Madam, Under §6(1) of the Right to Information Act 2005, I request the following information about my booking: Booking PNR: __________ Date of journey: __________ Date of cancellation: __________ Cancellation Reference Number (CRN): __________ Amount paid: ₹ __________ Mode of payment: __________ 1. Kindly provide a certified copy of the file notings on the cancellation and refund of the above PNR, along with the refund voucher number and date of release of the refund to the original payment instrument. 2. Kindly state whether the refund has been processed; if yes, the bank reference number; if no, the reasons recorded on file. 3. Kindly furnish the name and designation of the official responsible for processing online cancellation refunds and the average turnaround time for such refunds in the last financial year. 4. If any of the requested record is held by another public authority, please transfer the application under §6(3) of the RTI Act 2005 within 5 days. 5. The information sought is in public interest within the meaning of §7(1) of the RTI Act 2005 and concerns my own transaction; no third-party consultation under §11 is necessary. I enclose an Indian Postal Order for ₹10 as application fee. I belong / do not belong to the BPL category (strike off whichever not applicable; if BPL, attach proof and no fee is payable). Should this application be wholly or partly rejected, I reserve my right to file a first appeal under §19(1) within 30 days. Yours faithfully, (Signature) Name: __________ Address: __________ Phone: __________ Email: __________ Date: __________
You can draft and refine the same letter using the AI RTI Drafter and verify any reply you get with the PIO Reply Checker.
Seven working days from the date the merchant confirms the cancellation, under the RBI master direction DPSS.CO.PD.No.629/02.01.014/2019-20. Working days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and gazetted bank holidays. After day 7 you can raise a charge-back with your card-issuing bank.
Both. The National Consumer Commission has held that an online travel aggregator is a “service provider” under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, not a mere facilitator. Always implead operator and aggregator together as opposite party 1 and opposite party 2.
Cash bookings are refunded by NEFT or cheque to the bank account you nominate at cancellation. Insist on a written acknowledgement of your bank details. The 7-working-day rule still applies.
A pure delay is not a criminal offence. FIR under IPC §420 (cheating) needs proof that the operator never intended to refund from the start. Stick to civil remedies: grievance officer, NCH, consumer commission.
No. §35(1)(a) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 lets a single consumer file in person on edaakhil.nic.in. The portal accepts PDFs, walks you through the format, and the fee is ₹100 for refund claims up to ₹5 lakh.
Most consumer commissions award 9 to 12 percent simple interest from the date of cancellation till payment, plus ₹5,000 to ₹15,000 mental-agony compensation, plus ₹2,000 to ₹5,000 litigation cost. Pray for all three heads in your complaint.
No. RTI Act 2005 applies only to “public authorities” under §2(h). Private aggregators are not covered. RTI is useful only when the bus was operated by a state RTC. For private aggregators, the IT Rules 2021 grievance route plus consumer commission is the path.
Two years from the date of cancellation under §69(1) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019. If you missed it for “sufficient cause”, §69(2) lets the commission condone delay in writing.
A refund of your own fare is not income; it is reversal of a payment. GST charged on the original ticket is also reversed automatically when the merchant issues a credit note under §34 of the CGST Act 2017.
If a private operator is under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 proceedings, file your refund as an “operational creditor” claim with the resolution professional. For state RTCs, insolvency is not possible; treat as a sovereign service provider and pursue under Consumer Protection Act 2019.