Ministry of Railways | Status on Revenue Generation via Refund Policy

PIB News Update: Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal has informed that  The details of  fare collected on account of non-cancellation of waiting list tickets during the last five years are as under:-

The general policy of reservation and refund of fare applicable in case of booking through computerized Passenger Reservation system (PRS) counters of Indian Railways and that through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is broadly the same with slight variations, some of which are as under:

1. Railway tickets are booked on first-come-first-served basis online as well as through computerized Passenger Reservation system (PRS) counters of Indian Railways. The fare realized by Indian Railways is also same in both the modes. However, in case of tickets booked through IRCTC, the customer incurs nominal convenience charges and payment gateway charges levied by IRCTC and banks respectively.
2. Refund rules applicable on cancellation of tickets for both the modes are also same.  However, in case of tickets booked through IRCTC, the convenience charges and payment gateway charges levied by IRCTC are not refunded.
3. In case of tickets booked through IRCTC if the status of the ticket continues to remain fully waitlisted even after the preparation of first reservation chart, then the names of all such passengers booked on that Passenger Name Record (PNR) are dropped from the reservation chart. As this booking and payment is online, the due refund of fare is credited directly to the account from which booking transaction is done. In case of tickets booked through physical mode at PRS counters, the passenger has to obtain the refunds by depositing the ticket physically within prescribed time limits.