Ticket cancellation charges: Is the Modi government considering waiving train cancellation charges for waitlisted tickets? This speculation emerged after Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Choudhary raised the issue of levying cancellation charges on waitlisted tickets even if they are cancelled by the railways due to lack of seats in trains with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Choudhary inquired whether the government knows the IRCTC website levies cancellation charges on waitlisted tickets even if they are cancelled by the Railways itself due to lack of seats in trains. She also wanted to know "whether the government plans to waive off such cancellation charges on said waitlisted tickets cancelled by the railways."
Ashwini Vaishnaw responds
Responding to the issue, Vaishnaw in a written reply to the Lok Sabha informed that the railway ministry levies clerkage charges on all waitlisted tickets and the revenue generated from all sources, including cancellation, is utilised for working expenses relating to maintenance and operations.
“Clerkage charge is levied on cancellation of all waitlisted tickets, including cancelled, through the IRCTC website as per Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Tickets and Refund of Fare) Rules 2015,” Railway Minister said in response to questions regarding cancellation charges on waitlisted tickets.
Waitlisted tickets are issued to take care of berths going vacant
He further said that waitlisted tickets are issued to take care of berths going vacant against cancellation of confirmed/RAC tickets during advance reservation period. "Further, waitlisted ticket passengers have also the option to get upgraded under the upgradation scheme or shifted to an alternate train under the VIKALP scheme," Vaishnaw added.
The Railway Minister further said that the amount credited on account of cancellation of tickets is not maintained separately.
Asked "whether the government has data on the amount of revenue that has been generated from cancellation fees", Vaishnaw said, "The amount credited on account of cancellation of tickets is not maintained separately."
"The revenue generated from all sources, including cancellation, forms part of railways’ total receipts which are utilised for working expenses relating to maintenance and operations under revenue expenditure and capital expenditure for renewal/replacement of assets, customer amenities and other unremunerative development work," the minister added.
IRCTC refund policy
If you cancel a train ticket that is ‘confirmed’, ‘RAC’, or on ‘waitlist’ with Indian Railways, be prepared to incur a cancellation charge. The matter of thing to keeep in mind is that the deduction amount is relatively closely to the time of cancellation. And it is interesting to note that these charges are not uniform and differ based on your ticket ‘category’ – be it the luxurious AC first class, the comfortable AC chair car, or the economical second class.
If you cancel the train tickets with more than 48 hours remaining before the train takes off from the original station, the charges are as follows:
- Rs 240 flat cancellation charges per passenger for AC First/executive class passengers
- Rs 200 for AC 2-Tier/ first class
- Rs 180 for AC 3-Tier/AC Chair car, AC-3 Economy
- Rs 60 for Second class
In case, you cancel a confirmed ticket with less than 48 hours remaining, but more than 12 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charges will be 25% of the total fare paid (subject to a minimum flat cancellation charge).
Moreover, if you cancel a confirmed ticket with less than 12 hours remaining and up to 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charges will be 50% of the total fare paid but subject to a minimum flat cancellation charge for each class. And if you have a train ticket that’s either RAC or on the waiting list, you still have the option to cancel it. In this case, you have to make sure you do this at least half an hour before the train is due to leave, no matter how far you’re going.
