The Revised Refund Rules will Effect From 01.07.2013 - Indian Railways Undertakes Comprehensive Revision of its Refund Rules
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Railways
25-June-2013 16:09 IST
Indian Railways Undertakes Comprehensive Revision of its Refund Rules
The Revised Refund Rules will Come into Effect From 1st July 2013
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:-
| Existing rule | Amended rule |
| 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. | 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) within three hours after the actual departure of the train for which the ticket is issued or | (i)The ticket shall be presented for cancellation within three hours of issue of ticket. |
| (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 | (ii) In case of tickets issued in advance the ticket is presented upto 2400 hours of the day preceding the day of journey. |
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 hours before 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 :-
| Existing rule | Revised rule |
If the ticket is presented for cancellation upto 3/6/12 hours for distance 200 kms/200-500 kms/500 Kms and above
after the actual departure of the train, except deduction of clerkage;
If a Waitlisted/RAC ticket is presented for cancellation, refund of fare
shall be admissible after deducting the 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. | (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 station within 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. |
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 classes instead 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.
