ADM (Agency Debit Memo)

An Agency Debit Memo is an accounting tool airlines use to collect adjustments for electronic tickets and refunds issued by agents. The airline issues it to the agent through BSPlink. When its lifecycle ends, the amount is included in the agent's billing and becomes part of what the agent owes the BSP on the remittance date 5. Because ADMs can change the amount to remit for a period, the BSPlink manual advises checking your reports, which show the final amount to remit, and reviewing each ADM individually if anything looks wrong 7.

When an agent doubts or disagrees with an ADM, it has three actions, which can be combined:

• Pre-billing dispute: register it in BSPlink within 15 days of the issue date, with the reason and supporting documents. The airline then has 60 days to accept or reject. Acceptance deactivates the ADM; rejection puts it into billing 2. Do not deduct a disputed amount from the period remittance 3.
• Forward to GDS: where available, send a copy to the GDS to investigate. It does not change the latency period, and it does not make the GDS responsible for the ADM 4. It can be used before or after billing 6.
• Post-billing dispute: raise it in BSPlink within 12 months of the transaction, tied to a specific amount, with a substantive reason and written evidence. The full amount must still be paid, and IATA holds the disputed sum in escrow for 30 days while the parties try to resolve it 6.

One exception matters for card sales. An ADM issued because of an actual chargeback is not eligible for dispute under the sales rules, so the work has to be done earlier, when the airline answers the cardholder's inquiry. The exception does not apply where the agent was not liable for card fraud risk because it took no part in the transaction 1.