Air India — Penalty deducted for cancelled Flight

We booked Air India AI934 10.12.2022 to Cochin. The flight was cancelled and since there was an urgent even to attend on 11.12.2022 and that Air India was not offering any alternative, we had to cancel the ticket with Air India.

They deducted a Penalty of AED 1000. This is not appropriate as the flight was cancelled and we should have been given a full refund.

Please get Air India to refund us the penalty deducted.
Regards
Kokkath Rajagopalan