Ministry
of Railways has revised and amended Refund Rules in a very comprehensive manner
and notified them which shall come into force with effect from 1.7.2013. The
amendments made in the Refund Rules are aimed at simplification, efficiency in
processing and reduction of bogus refund claims.
Railway
Passengers (Cancellation of ticket and Refund of fare) Rules, 1998 have not
been substantially revised in the last 15 years during which period a large
number of changes have taken place in the ticketing system of Indian
Railways. Firstly, Computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS)
as well as Computerised Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) have
proliferated. Reservation through internet has also been introduced through
which 45% of the total reserved tickets are issued. Integrated Train Enquiry
System -- 139 is functional through which ticket status can be obtained through
SMS. The above developments warranted that the refund rules be revised
comprehensively.
The
major changes in the existing rules and the amendments in refund rules are as
under:-
Unused
(unreserved) tickets on which no reservation has been made:
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Existing rule
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Amended rule
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If a ticket on which no
reservation of a seat or berth has been made is presented to the station
master for cancellation refund of fare shall be made on every such ticket
after deducting the clerkage.
(i) within three hours after
the actual departure of the train for which the ticket is issued or
(ii) for any ticket valid for
the whole day, within three hours after the actual departure of the last
train of the day for the destination station
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If a ticket on which no
reservation of a seat or berth has been made is presented for cancellation,
refund of fare shall be made on every such ticket after deducting the
clerkage.
(i)The ticket shall be
presented for cancellation within three hours of issue of ticket.
(ii) In case of tickets
issued in advance the ticket is presented upto 2400 hours of the day
preceding the day of journey.
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Unused
tickets on which reservation has been made:
(i)
if the ticket is presented for cancellation more than forty eight hours
instead of the existing 24 hours in advance of the scheduled departure
of the train, a minimum per passenger cancellation charge shall be deducted at
the flat rate of rupees one hundred and twenty for air-conditioned first
class/executive class, rupees one hundred for air-conditioned-II tier/first
class, rupees ninety for air-conditioned III-tier/ 3 economy/air-conditioned
chair car, rupees sixty for sleeper class and rupees thirty for second class.
(ii) if
the ticket is presented for cancellation between forty eight hours and
upto six hours instead of existing 24 hours and
upto 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation
charge shall be twenty five per cent of the fare subject to a minimum of the
cancellation charge.
(iii) if
the ticket is presented for cancellation within six hours instead of existing
4 hoursbefore the scheduled departure of the train and upto two
hours irrespective of distance instead of existing 3/6/12 hours for
distance 200 kms/200-500 kms/500 Kms and above after the actual
departure of the train, the cancellation charge shall be fifty per cent of the
fare subject to a minimum of the cancellation charge.
(iv) No
refund shall be granted on the reserved ticket if it
is surrendered for cancellation after two hours of the actual departure
of the train.
(v) In
case, on a party ticket or a family ticket issued for travel of more than one
person, some persons have confirmed reservation and others are on waiting list,
full refund of fare, less clerkage, shall be admissible for confirmed
passengers also provided that the entire ticket is surrendered for cancellation
within six hours instead of existing 4 hours before the
scheduled departure of the train and upto two hours instead
of existing 3 hours after actual departure of the train”.
Unused
waitlisted or RAC tickets:–
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Existing rule
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Revised rule
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If the ticket is presented for
cancellation upto 3/6/12 hours for distance 200 kms/200-500 kms/500
Kms and aboveafter the actual departure of the train, except deduction of
clerkage;
Provided that for night trains
leaving between 21.00 hours and 06.00 hours (actual departure), refund shall
be admissible at the station within the time limits specified above or within first
four hours after the opening of reservation office, whichever is
later.
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If a Waitlisted/RAC
ticket is presented for cancellation, refund of fare shall be admissible
after deducting the clerkage.
(i) The ticket is presented for
cancellation upto three hours after the actual departure of
the train irrespective of the distance.
(ii) The passenger may get the
tickets cancelled from any PRS counters or the designated current counters.
(iii) No refund of fare
shall be granted on RAC ticket /Waitlisted ticket after three hours of the
actual departure of the train.
(iv) In case no current
counters are available at journey originating station for night trains
leaving between 21.00 hours and 06.00 hours(actual departure , refund shall
be admissible at the stationwithin first two hours after the
opening of reservation office.
(v) In remote and hill areas as
identified by the zonal Railways with the prior approval of the General
Managers and print in their Time Tables for train leaving between 1900
hours and 0600 hours (actual departure) refund shall be
admissible at the station within first two hours after the
opening of reservation/booking office, in case there is no
reservation counters/booking office/ current counters. Available in that area.
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Cancellation
of e- tickets.-
· The e-
ticket may be booked and cancelled through internet and the refund of fare
shall be credited to the customer’s account after deducting the charges
applicable.
· In case
of a confirmed e-ticket, refund of fare shall be granted in accordance with
rule for unused tickets on which reservation has been made. In case of RAC
e-ticket, refund of fare shall be granted in accordance with rule for unused
waitlisted and RAC tickets.
· In
case of the waitlisted e-ticket on which status of all the
passengers is on waiting list even after preparation of reservation charts,
names of all such passengers booked on that Passenger Name
Record (PNR) shall be dropped from the reservation chart and refund
of fare shall be credited to the customer’s account after deducting
the clerkage.
· In
case on a party e-ticket or a family e-ticket issued for travel of more than
one person, some persons have confirmed reservation and others are on the list
of RAC and waiting list, then in case of passengers on RAC or waitlisted not
travelling, a certificate has to be obtained from the ticket checking staff to
that effect and refund of fare shall be processed online through TDR,
indicating the details of the certificate issued by ticket checking
staff.
· The
online TDR shall be filed upto seventy two hours of actual arrival of the train
at passenger’s destination and the original certificate issued by the ticket
checking staff is to be sent through post to Indian Railway Catering and
Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The fare shall be refunded by Indian Railway
Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to the customer’s account after due
verification.
· In
case of e-tickets (confirmed or RAC), if the reservation charts have
been prepared, online TDR is required to be filed for obtaining
refund. No refund of fare shall be admissible on e- ticket having confirmed
reservation in case the request for refund is filed online after two hours of
the actual departure of the train.
· No
refund of fare shall be admissible on RAC e-tickets in case the request for
refund is filed online after three hours of the actual departure of the train.
Refund
on Tatkal tickets:
· No
refund of fare shall be admissible on confirmed Tatkal ticket.
· In
case of Tatkal ticket on waitlist, refund of fare shall be granted in
accordance with rule for unused waitlisted or RAC tickets.
· In
case on a party Tatkal ticket or a family Tatkal ticket issued for travel for
more than one person, some persons have confirmed reservation and others are on
waiting list, full refund of fare, less clerkage, shall be admissible for
confirmed passengers also provided that the entire Tatkal ticket is surrendered
for cancellation within six hours before the scheduled departure of the train
or upto two hours of the actual departure of the train.
Postponement
or preponement of journey on a reserved, RAC or waitlisted ticket.
The postponement
or preponement of journey on confirmed or RAC or waitlisted ticket shall be
allowed in the same class and for the same destination instead of any
longer distance or any higher class by the same train or by any other
train for any subsequent days, subject to condition that the ticket
is surrendered during the working hours of reservation office and at least forty
eight hours instead of existing 24 hours before the scheduled
departure of the train in which originally booked.
Non-commencement
or missing of journey due to late running of trains. -
· No
cancellation charge or clerkage shall be levied and full fare shall be refunded
to all passengers holding reserved, RAC and waitlisted tickets, if
the journey is not undertaken due to late running of the train by more than
three hours of the scheduled departure of the train from the station commencing
the journey subject to condition that the ticket is surrendered upto
the actual departure of the train instead of existing 3/6/12
hours for distance 200 kms/200-500 kms/500 Kms and above after the actual departure
of the train
· in case of e-tickets, the TDR is filed online before the
actual departure of the train for
availing full refund.
· In
case the ticket is cancelled or surrendered or if the request for refund of
fare is filed online after the actual departure of the train, no
refund of fare shall be admissible.
Lost,
misplaced, torn or mutilated tickets: -
If
the reservation status of a lost, misplaced, torn or mutilated ticket,
at the time of receipt of the application for issuance of a duplicate ticket
for the purpose of undertaking journey, is confirmed or RAC and
that the duplicate ticket is sought before preparation of reservation
chart of the concerned train, the station master shall issue a duplicate
ticket in lieu of the original ticket on payment of rupees
fifty per passenger in case of second and sleeper class and rupees
one hundred per passenger for other classesinstead of existing
clerkage charge.
Application
for refund of Passenger Reservation System (PRS) tickets in other circumstances:-
For
refund of fare under circumstances other than those specified in these rules or
under circumstances like ‘bandh’ or agitations or floods, etc., the
passengers could not reach the reservation counter or station or current
counters for cancellation of tickets, in those cases, a TDR shall be
issued to the passenger and the passenger may apply for refund of fare within ten
days instead existing 90 days from the day of commencement of journey
to the Chief Commercial Manager (Refunds) of the railway administration under
whose jurisdiction the TDR issuing station comes, enclosing the original TDR.
The TDR shall be issued only upto three days instead of existing 30
days after the scheduled departure of the train.
Source : PIB Release, 25 June, 2013
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