In view of the huge rush witnessed at ticket counters following the government’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, the Railways has stopped giving refunds against the cancellation of tickets in cash and is instead issuing ticket deposit receipts (TDRs).
Railways was one of the exemptions declared by the government following the ban on Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes from midnight October 8 with the aim to fight black money and corruption. Other emergency services like hospitals, petrol pumps and airports were also exempted from the new rule for three days up to November 11.
The demonitisation move and the exemption provided for Railway tickets has attracted heavy rush at ticket counters at railway stations resulting in cash shortage. “So we are giving TDR to those who are cancelling tickets and if the refund amount is Rs 10,000 or more then it would be returned to the bank account of the person,” a railways official said.
The person concerned will be required to furnish account details for receiving the amount while cancelling the ticket.
The demonetisation of higher denomination currency notes has also brought down the e-ticketing business by about 10 per cent on November 9 as compared to the previous day as there is a surge of over 13 per cent at the counter sale.
According to IRCTC, the online ticketing arm of the Railways, total 5,55,587 e-tickets were booked on October 8, while it fell to 5,07,996 on October 9.
The Railways earned Rs 123 crore on ticket sales on October 9 as against the collection of Rs 109 crore on October 8, an increase of Rs 14 crore.
The rush at counters across the country is expected to ease out after November 11, the official added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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