A hotel or travel agent is refusing to refund my cancelled booking. What can I do?

Question

I cancelled my hotel booking within the free-cancellation window shown at booking, but the hotel is refusing to refund. What are my options? Before I spend money on it, I want to know whether Consumer Protection Act 2019, Section 2(11) gives me a remedy here and what proof I would need. Any Section numbers I can quote when I write to them would be useful.

MyVakeel Legal Desk · Accepted Answer

Consumer Protection Act 2019, Section 2(11) and Consumer Protection Act 2019, Section 2(47) is what decides this question in India. Read it alongside the provisions named, because the relief available to you turns on the facts you can prove on paper.

Refusing a refund that was promised as part of the booking terms, such as a free-cancellation window, is a deficiency in service and can also be an unfair trade practice under Section 2(47).

Travel aggregators and hotels are jointly answerable where the aggregator's platform displayed the cancellation policy that the hotel later refused to honour.

Screenshots of the booking confirmation, cancellation policy displayed at the time of booking, and payment receipt are the key evidence in such disputes.

For force majeure cancellations, such as government-imposed travel restrictions, courts have generally required a reasonable refund or credit rather than outright forfeiture.

Consumer Commissions can direct refund of the full amount along with compensation for the harassment of a wrongful denial.

What this means for you: 1) Screenshot the cancellation policy shown at the time of booking, and the actual cancellation confirmation; 2) Send a written refund demand to both the hotel and the booking platform; 3) Escalate through the platform's customer grievance channel citing the promised policy; 4) File a consumer complaint for refund and compensation if the demand is ignored.

Where the facts are disputed, what usually decides a hotel booking refund matter is the paper trail — dated complaints, acknowledgments and written replies under Consumer Protection Act 2019, Section 2(11). You can post the details on the MyVakeel forum for a practising advocate to review, or book a paid consultation with a Bar Council verified lawyer in consumer law.