Travel agency terms and conditions: an India-ready sample

If your travel agency's terms and conditions are a paragraph you copied off a competitor's website three years ago, you are not alone. Most small and mid-size agencies do exactly this: open a rival's quotation PDF, lift the fine print, swap the logo. Legal-document sites even sell a paid tour operator terms and conditions template for India, proof there's real demand for something better than a copy-paste job.

The problem: a copied clause was written for someone else's supplier contracts, someone else's cancellation slabs, someone else's risk. When a client disputes a refund and you end up in front of a consumer commission, "but our T&C said no refund" only works if the clause itself would survive scrutiny.

This post gives you a paste-ready terms and conditions template for your quotation PDF or website, annotated clause by clause. It is not legal advice. Get your final version reviewed by a lawyer before you publish it, especially the liability and jurisdiction clauses.

Why a copied T&C can cost you more than it saves

A terms and conditions document only does its job if a consumer commission would uphold it if challenged. As of July 2026, reports around India's consumer protection framework suggest commissions are increasingly willing to look past the wording of a clause and ask whether it is fair, not just whether it exists. The Consumer Protection Act 2019 reportedly gives consumer commissions the power, some legal commentators argue (unconfirmed), possibly under provisions like Section 49(2) and Section 59(2), to declare a contract term "unfair" and void it, even if the client signed it. Confirm the specific provisions with a lawyer before relying on them.

Treat that as a live risk, not a footnote. A clause that says "no refund under any circumstances, no exceptions" reads as one-sided on its face. A clause that ties your refund to what your own suppliers actually refund you reads as reasonable. For more, see our breakdown of consumer court cases against travel agencies and our guide to cancellation terms that survive consumer court.

Treat what follows as a starting draft, not a finished legal document. Confirm the final wording with your CA or lawyer before it goes live, and update it whenever your supplier contracts or business model change.

The complete template

Copy this into a Google Doc, fill in the bracketed fields with your agency's actual details, and have a lawyer review it before you publish it on your website or attach it to quotations.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
[Your Agency Name], [City]
Last updated: [Month, Year]

1. BOOKING AND CONFIRMATION
A booking is confirmed only on receipt of a non-refundable deposit
of 25% of the total package cost, along with your written or digital
acceptance of these terms. The balance amount is due 15 days before
the date of travel. Bookings made within 15 days of departure must
be paid in full at the time of booking.

2. CANCELLATION AND REFUND
Cancellations must be made in writing (email or WhatsApp) and are
effective from the date we receive them. Refunds, where due, will
match what our suppliers (hotels, airlines, DMCs, transport vendors)
actually refund us for that booking, less our own service charge of
[X]%. Refund slabs for this package are:
  - [X] days or more before travel: [X]% refund
  - [X] to [X] days before travel: [X]% refund
  - Less than [X] days before travel: no refund
Bookings and payments made between 20 December and 5 January are
non-refundable and non-transferable, in line with peak-season
supplier policies.

3. ITINERARY CHANGES
We reserve the right to alter the itinerary, hotel, or mode of
transport where circumstances beyond our control (weather, local
closures, supplier unavailability, government restriction) require
it. We will substitute services of equal or higher value wherever
possible and inform you as soon as we know.

4. WE ACT AS AGENT, NOT PRINCIPAL
[Your Agency Name] acts only as a booking agent for the hotels,
airlines, transport operators, and other suppliers named in your
itinerary. We are not liable for their acts, omissions, delays,
cancellations, or service failures, though we will assist you in
pursuing a resolution or refund from the supplier concerned.

5. VISA-RELATED BOOKINGS
Visa approval is at the sole discretion of the relevant embassy or
consulate. We do not guarantee visa approval. In the event of a
visa rejection, our service fee for visa assistance is non-
refundable; supplier refunds (flights, hotels, tour cost) will
follow clause 2 and each supplier's own refund policy.

6. FORCE MAJEURE
Neither party is liable for failure to perform obligations caused by
events beyond reasonable control, including natural disasters, war,
epidemic, government order, or transport strikes. In such cases, we
will refund only what our suppliers refund to us, less any costs
already incurred on your behalf.

7. PRICE REVISION
Package prices are quoted based on rates, taxes, and exchange rates
prevailing on [date of quotation]. We reserve the right to revise
the price before departure if there is a material change in airfare,
fuel surcharge, or foreign exchange rate, and will inform you in
writing before raising the final invoice.

8. YOUR DOCUMENTS AND DATA
We collect passport, ID, and travel document copies solely to make
bookings and visa applications on your behalf. We will not use or
share this data for any other purpose without your consent, and will
delete it once it is no longer needed for your booking, in line with
our obligations under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act.

9. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION
These terms are governed by Indian law. Any dispute arising from
this booking is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts
at [your city].

10. ACCEPTANCE
By paying the deposit for this booking, you confirm that you have
read, understood, and agreed to these terms and conditions.

What each clause is actually doing

Clause 1, booking and confirmation. A 25% deposit and balance 15 days before travel is common practice among established Indian operators, as STIC Holidays' published terms show. Adjust the numbers to match what your own suppliers demand of you.

Clause 2, cancellation and refund. This is the clause most likely to end up in front of a consumer commission, so don't leave it as "no refund, full stop." Tie your refund slabs to what your suppliers actually refund you, plus your own service charge on top. That framing is defensible: you're passing through real losses, not inventing a penalty. Fill in the bracketed percentages from your own supplier contracts, not from a guess.

The peak-date non-refundable line. Marking 20 December to 5 January as non-refundable is standard among Indian operators because most suppliers apply the same freeze over that window. State it plainly and early in the clause so a client sees it before booking, not buried in clause 9.

Clause 4, agent not principal. This is the clause that limits your liability when a hotel double-books or an airline cancels a flight. It only holds up if it's true: you must actually be acting as an intermediary, with a real contract behind the booking, not simply disclaiming responsibility for a service you sold as your own.

Clause 5, visa-related bookings. Visa fee non-refundability is standard, but be precise about what's non-refundable (your service fee) versus what follows the normal refund clause (the rest of the package). Our guide on who pays when a client's visa is rejected breaks this split down further.

Clause 8, documents and data. Passport and ID scans moving over WhatsApp create real obligations under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act around consent and purpose limitation, per India's official data protection framework. Our post on what the DPDP Act requires for passport data covers this in more depth. Don't skip this clause even if you think of yourself as too small to matter; the obligation is on the data handler, not the agency's size.

Clause 9, jurisdiction. Naming your own city's courts means a client can't drag a small dispute to a commission in a different state, which matters when you don't have the time to travel for a hearing.

The WhatsApp short version

Most quotes go out over WhatsApp, and nobody reads a ten-clause document in a chat window. Paste this shortened version under your quotation PDF, and link to the full T&C for anyone who wants it.

*Terms (short):*
Booking confirm karne ke liye 25% advance zaroori hai, balance
travel se 15 din pehle. Cancellation par refund wahi milega jo humein
supplier (hotel/airline) se milta hai, hamara service charge minus.
20 Dec-5 Jan ki booking non-refundable hai. Hum sirf booking agent
hain, hotel/airline ki apni service delays ya cancellations ke liye
hum directly liable nahi hain, lekin refund dilwane mein help
karenge. Visa reject hone par sirf visa service fee non-refundable
hai, baaki refund normal policy ke hisab se. Full T&C: [link]

Common questions

What should a travel agency's terms and conditions include?

At minimum: payment schedule, cancellation and refund slabs tied to actual supplier refunds, an agent-not-principal liability clause, force majeure, visa disclaimers, a data-handling line covering passport and ID scans, and jurisdiction. Leaving out the agent-not-principal clause is the most common gap that costs agencies money in disputes.

Is a one-sided cancellation policy legal in India?

Not necessarily. Reports suggest consumer commissions have grown more willing to strike down clauses they consider unfair under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, even where a client signed the document. A "no refund, ever" clause is riskier than one that mirrors your actual supplier refund terms. Confirm the current legal position with your lawyer before relying on either.

Do I need a lawyer to write my T&C?

For the first draft, no; the template above covers the standard clauses. Before publishing, yes: a quick legal review of the liability and jurisdiction clauses is worth the cost.

Tour ke T&C mein kya likhna chahiye?

Payment schedule, cancellation refund slabs, aur ye clause ki aap sirf agent hain, hotel/airline ke principal nahi. Passport aur ID data kaise use hoga wo bhi zaroor likhein, aur jurisdiction apne shehar ka rakhein.

The short version

• Don't copy a rival's terms and conditions wholesale; tie your cancellation refund slabs to what your own suppliers actually refund you, not a guess.
• A one-sided "no refund ever" clause is the one most likely to be struck down as unfair under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 if a client disputes it.
• The "we act as agent, not principal" clause only protects you if it's actually true: real supplier contracts behind every booking.
• Cover passport and ID data handling explicitly; DPDP Act obligations apply regardless of agency size.
• Keep a WhatsApp-length short version for quotes, linking out to the full document.
• This template is a starting draft, not a finished legal document. Get it reviewed before you publish it.