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Johannesburg - The National Consumer Commission (NCC) is
considering probing if 1time sold tickets just hours before it applied for liquidation, the
SABC reported.
NCC acting head Ebrahim Mohammed said it was looking into
whether 1time misled passengers.
"We are trying to get exactly what the situation is. We
don't know what 1time has to say with regards to reimbursing consumers,
especially those who had already paid for their tickets in cash," he told
SABC.
Meanwhile consumers who paid cash for their 1time air
tickets may have to wait a little longer for a refund, the airline said on
Monday.
"We are in a liquidation process, it may take a longer
time for the liquidators to complete their work," said 1time spokesperson
Refilwe Masemola.
"With most liquidations, most creditors get a portion
of the rand back from the company."
She said people who had bought their tickets with cash would
find it hard to get their money back.
"Any money that was paid in cash is considered
belonging to the company. That is the money that was physically left with the
company when it went into liquidation."
However, the money paid through a credit card was with the
bank could be recovered, she said.
"Since the company applied for business rescue we've
always encouraged people to use credit cards," Masemola said.
ABSA, Nedbank, First National Bank and Standard Bank had
announced it would reimburse passengers who paid with their cards, The Star
reported.
Scores of passengers were left stranded when the low-cost
airline announced on Friday that it had applied for liquidation and stopped all
operations.
It had about R320m in short-term debt and had been in negotiations with creditors since March.
