What is ADM? Agency Debit Memo
An Agency Debit Memo (ADM) is a charge an airline raises against a travel agency, usually through BSP, when it finds a ticketing or booking error such as an incorrect fare, a rule violation or an unauthorised refund.
Common causes include applying a fare whose rules were not met, incorrect taxes, booking practices the airline prohibits (such as fictitious names or churning segments), and refund or exchange miscalculations. The opposite instrument, an Agency Credit Memo (ACM), credits the agency.
Preventing ADMs in software
Most ADMs trace back to automation gaps: pricing without validating fare rules, exchanges calculated by hand, or duplicate and inactive segments left in a PNR. Validation before ticketing, automated queue cleanup and regular reconciliation against BSP data reduce them significantly.