Bus Ticket Cancelled but Refund Not Received?

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 refund window promised at checkout (aggregators usually promise 5 to 7 working days). It is a deficiency-of-service dispute, not a fraud.

Three statutes plus one regulator decide your refund rights:

• Consumer Protection Act 2019, §2(11) defines “deficiency” to include any negligence or delay in the manner of performance which an operator is required to maintain under contract. §34 gives the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission jurisdiction over complaints up to ₹50 lakh in pecuniary value (2021 jurisdiction rules), and §35(1)(a) lets a single consumer file without a lawyer.
• Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, Rule 3(2)(a) force every “intermediary” (which includes aggregators like RedBus and AbhiBus) to publish the name, contact, and physical address of a Grievance Officer and to acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and dispose of them within 15 days. Failure removes safe-harbour protection under IT Act 2000, §79.
• Motor Vehicles Act 1988, §74 read with the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 places stage-carriage and contract-carriage permit holders (your actual bus operator, not the aggregator) under State Transport Authority discipline. Unfair trade practices in ticketing can trigger permit-condition action.
• Carriers Act 1865, §8 continues to apply to common carriers for breach of duty in the carriage of passengers and goods, useful when both the operator and aggregator deny liability.
• Reserve Bank of India — its harmonised turnaround-time (TAT) rules for failed card and UPI transactions (circular dated 3 September 2019) require the money for a failed payment to be auto-reversed to your account within 7 working days, with compensation of ₹100 per day if the bank delays. These rules govern failed payments, not tickets you cancelled voluntarily: for a cancellation, the operator's published refund window applies, and delay beyond that window is a deficiency under CPA 2019, §2(11). Your card charge-back rights under card-network rules are a separate, parallel remedy.

You do not have to settle the split-liability debate before acting. The Consumer Protection Act 2019 defines “service” broadly — §2(42) expressly includes transport and related facilities — so a booking platform cannot shrug off liability by calling itself a mere “facilitator”, and a consumer complaint lets you implead the operator and the aggregator together as opposite parties, letting the commission apportion liability. For state-run bus services the same logic applies: a statutory transport corporation runs a “service” for its passengers in the same sense as a private operator.

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).

1. Day 0 to Day 7: passive wait. Keep the cancellation SMS, email, and the unique cancellation reference number (CRN). Note the refund window the operator promised at checkout — aggregators usually say 5 to 7 working days, and working days exclude Sundays and bank holidays, so the calendar wait can run longer.
2. Day 8: written reminder to merchant. Email the aggregator's customer-care address with subject line “Refund pending beyond published refund window: PNR XXXXX, CRN YYYYY”. Attach the booking confirmation, cancellation confirmation, and a screenshot of the bank statement showing no credit. Ask them to confirm the Acquirer Reference Number (ARN) of the refund.
3. Day 10: grievance officer escalation. Every aggregator publishes a Grievance Officer page (RedBus at redbus.in, AbhiBus at abhibus.com, Paytm at paytm.com, MakeMyTrip at makemytrip.com). Send the same complaint to the named officer by email, marking the customer-care thread as reference. Cite Rule 3(2)(a) of the IT Rules 2021 and demand acknowledgement in 24 hours and resolution in 15 days.
4. Day 12: bank charge-back parallel track. If you paid by credit or debit card, raise a charge-back through your card-issuing bank. The dispute reason is “credit not processed” (Visa condition 13.6 / Mastercard condition 4860). Card networks generally allow the bank up to 120 days from the original transaction to raise the dispute. UPI users can raise a “transaction dispute” in the UPI app under “Help” — and if the payment failed and the bank does not reverse it within the RBI turnaround time, complain to the bank first, then to the RBI Integrated Ombudsman if it is unresolved within 30 days.
5. Day 15: state RTC complaint cell (if it is a state bus). State RTCs have their own grievance pages: KSRTC (ksrtc.in), TSRTC (tsrtconline.in), MSRTC (msrtc.maharashtra.gov.in), UPSRTC (upsrtconline.co.in), KeralaRTC (keralartc.com). Quote your PNR and ticket class, note the complaint reference number, and follow up weekly until the refund lands.
6. Day 21: National Consumer Helpline (NCH). File at consumerhelpline.gov.in or on the NCH app. Mention “bus ticket refund + IT Rules 2021 + CPA 2019 §34”. NCH routes your complaint to the company and tracks the response. NCH is free.
7. Day 30: parallel RTI to state RTC (only if the bus was a state RTC bus). File on rtionline.gov.in or the state RTI portal asking for the cancellation file notings, the refund-payment voucher number, and the date on which the cheque or NEFT was released. RTI replies in 30 days under §7(1) of the RTI Act 2005.
8. Day 45: District Consumer Commission. File a complaint under §35 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, on e-jagriti.gov.in (the central e-filing portal, no lawyer required, fee ₹100 for claims up to ₹5 lakh). Pray for refund + 12 percent interest + ₹10,000 mental-agony compensation + ₹5,000 litigation cost. Small refund matters are usually listed and decided faster than larger disputes.

• Booking confirmation email or SMS (with PNR)
• Cancellation confirmation (with CRN)
• Original payment proof: bank statement, card statement, or UPI reference number
• Screenshot of refund-status page from the aggregator app
• Email and dispatch log of complaint to grievance officer
• Bank charge-back acknowledgement, if raised
• Government-issued ID matching the booking name (Aadhaar, PAN, or passport)
• Address proof (for jurisdiction at consumer commission)

• Counting calendar days, not working days. Both the operator's published refund window and RBI's failed-transaction turnaround time are counted in working days, which exclude Sundays and gazetted bank holidays. Treat day 1 as the next bank working day after cancellation confirmation.
• Skipping the grievance-officer step. District Consumer Commissions routinely ask “Did you write to the Grievance Officer under IT Rules 2021?” If the answer is no, the bench may give the company another 15 days. Do this step in writing on day 10.
• Filing in the wrong forum first. Police FIR is wrong for a refund delay because there is no “dishonest inducement” under BNS 2023, §318(4) (cheating — the provision that replaced IPC §420) unless the operator never intended to refund. Civil deficiency goes to the consumer commission.
• Paying through “wallet credit” instead of original instrument. Many aggregators silently issue refunds as wallet credit. Refuse this in writing: under RBI rules, refund must go to the original instrument unless you specifically opt for wallet.
• Missing the 2-year limitation. §69(1) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 caps your filing window at 2 years from the cause of action. Diary it.
• Not naming both operator and aggregator. Sue both in the same complaint as opposite party 1 and opposite party 2. Joint and several liability is the rule.
• Forgetting to claim interest. Commissions commonly award 9 to 12 percent simple interest from date of cancellation.

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.

Read next:

• The RTI Playbook
• RedBus or private bus did not arrive: refund and compensation
• Train ticket refund: IRCTC TDR step-by-step
• Tour package refund denied by travel agent

For a payment that failed (money debited, ticket not issued), RBI's turnaround-time rules require auto-reversal within 7 working days, and delay costs the bank ₹100 per day in compensation. For a ticket you cancelled voluntarily, RBI fixes no universal window — the operator's published cancellation policy governs, and aggregators typically promise 5 to 7 working days. In both situations, once the applicable window has passed you can raise a charge-back with your card-issuing bank or a UPI dispute in your payment app.

Both can be held liable. Ticketing through a platform is a “service” under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 (§2(42) expressly covers transport and related services), so the aggregator cannot escape by calling itself 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 operator's published refund window still applies.

A pure delay is not a criminal offence. FIR under BNS 2023, §318(4) (cheating, the provision that replaced IPC §420) 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 e-jagriti.gov.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 proceedings are practically not available; pursue the consumer commission route instead.

• Consumer Protection Act 2019 (full text): indiacode.gov.in
• Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021: meity.gov.in
• Motor Vehicles Act 1988: morth.nic.in
• RBI circulars on payment transaction turnaround time: rbi.org.in
• Right to Information Act 2005: cic.gov.in
• National Consumer Helpline: consumerhelpline.gov.in
• E-Daakhil consumer e-filing portal: e-jagriti.gov.in
• Carriers Act 1865 (current text): legislative.gov.in