‘Withdrawal of convinience fee decision positive’: IRCTC chairman

NEW DELHI:  Rajni Hasija, chairman and managing director of IRCTC, in an analyst meet on Monday said it is in the good interest of the state-backed company that the decision of sharing convenience fee revenue has been withdrawn. Hasija hinted that if it had not been withdrawn, they would have examined increasing the fees it charges on ticket bookings.

“As we have been mentioning in various con calls that IRCTC has been given the liberty to decide its convenience fee, the amount that can be charged. That amount in various conferences, investor meets also, investors have been suggesting why not charge per passenger. At that time, management was answering let’s not be that greedy. Secondly, we have also been given some dispensation to UPI where almost 30% of the transactions are getting; we are getting less of the convenience fee. So, had the decision not been withdrawn, certainly we would have worked on those lines.” 

When asked what factors they would consider before increasing the convenience fees, Hasija said that as long as they are able to meet their expenses and add to a good amount of revenue and profits, there is no need for the management to increase the convenience fee.

She mentioned that IRCTC’s convenience fee in the first half of FY22 came at Rs 289 crore, out of which Rs 104 crore came during the first quarter and Rs 185 crore in September quarter.

Railway Ministry on October 28 had said that Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) would share all the convenience fee revenue it earns in the ratio of 50:50 from November 1st. 

However, a massive slump in IRCTC share price, up to 29% intraday, on October 29 forced the Ministry to scrap this decision in less than 24 hours.