In a bid to encourage cashless transactions in the wake of the demonetisation exercise, the government has waived service charges on train tickets booked through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) website, effectively making online tickets cheaper.
“In order to help passengers and incentivise online payments, IRCTC Service charge has been waived off on booking of E-tickets and I-tickets from 23rd Nov 2016 to 31st Dec 2016,” a message on IRCTC website said.
Rs 20 is levied as service charge on Sleeper and Rs 40 on AC classes for booking tickets through IRCTC.
“Now the passengers won’t have to pay the service charges on booking E-tickets and I-tickets through IRCTC from November 23 to December 31,” railway Spokesperson Anil Kumar Saxena said.
He said the decision was taken at a meeting here between the senior officials of the railways and IRCTC to encourage cashless transactions following the government’s move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
On November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes would not be legal tenders anymore. The decision was taken to curb black money and corruption, he said.
However, the government also announced that the higher notes will be accepted till November 24 midnight for booking tickets at the railway stations and buying food items in trains and on railway station premises.
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