MANILA, Philippines--Budget carrier Cebu Pacific once again is in the middle of a controversy involving the quality of its services and treatment of passengers.

Last month, a passenger filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) against Cebu Air Inc. for adopting a policy where late passengers would not be allowed to re-book their tickets.

In his complaint, lawyer Pedro Linsangan related that when he arrived after boarding gates were closed, he was required to purchase new tickets, instead of just having to pay a small fee to get on a later flight.

Linsangan said the airline?s policy was ?arbitrary, capricious and confiscatory ... [affecting] thousands of helpless passengers patronizing this airline.?

Linsangan stated in his complaint that last Jan. 9, he was not allowed to board his 3:05 p.m. return flight to Manila from Iloilo via Cebu after he arrived at about 2:20 p.m.

After being barred from boarding, he said he was told by the gate attendant that he could not rebook his ticket for a later flight that same day. He was also told that he had to buy a new ticket for his connecting flight from Cebu to Manila.

Also, Linsangan said, his flight from Cebu to Manila was delayed for nearly two hours.

?Except for an apology, what did passengers get? Nothing,? he said. Under the airlines? rules, only passengers on flights delayed for more than three hours would be entitled to refunds.

?Cebu Pacific is making millions of pesos just by declaring flights forfeited even if it is just a matter of a few minutes? delay,? he said.

Linsangan asked the DOTC to mount an investigation and stop the airline from implementing the policy of forfeiting tickets of delayed passengers.

Reacting to the news, Cebu Pacific said that in its statement in November of last year, it announced that any change in flight schedules should be made at least a day before the flight itself.

?Passengers may rebook flights without penalties as long as travel is completed within 30 days. Passengers may also store booking in the Travel Fund, but with a penalty since these disruptions are beyond Cebu Pacific?s control,? the airline stated last November.