The nation’s antitrust watchdog ordered Singapore Airlines and Australia’s Qantas Airways on Wednesday to fix their unfair refund policy on discounted flight tickets.

Unlike other air carriers that offer some refunds for cancellation, the two companies were found to have not paid back any of the ticket prices except oil surcharges and taxes.

The Fair Trade Commission said, even considering price benefits of the discounted tickets, the two companies put excessive pressure on consumers.

Following the FTC order, the two foreign airlines have scrapped the refund policy and decided to only impose 120,000 won ($110) and 300,000 won cancellation fees, respectively.

In June, Germany’s Lufthansa was also reprimanded here for running such a refund policy.

(jylee@heraldcorp.com)