The Constitutional Court will assess whether the practice of airlines canceling all round-trip flight tickets if a passenger does not arrive for the departing flight is consistent with the Russian Constitution.
According to the current rules, the passenger has two hours to inform the airline that he wants to keep his return ticket. But it must be done at the airport. And only if there are at least 24 hours left before the return flight.
I myself recently found myself in a similar situation: an urgent and sudden business trip prevented me from flying in time for a vacation that had been planned for a long time - I could not use the Shem card. Good thing I knew about these rules, so I handled the situation in advance. I had to divide the reservations among the passengers, cancel my entire reservation and order new return tickets.
I understand the economic and business logic behind why round trip tickets are priced differently than return tickets. But I have never honestly understood why airlines cancel a paid return ticket just on the grounds that no one is flying "there" in a paid seat.
I cannot predict what decision the Constitutional Court will make, but it is a good sign that the complaint has been accepted for consideration.