NEW DELHI: Railways issued an advisory on Saturday relaxing refund rules for passengers who had booked tickets to travel between March 21 and April 15 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country to avoid crowding on trains and encourage social distancing.
The order states if a train is cancelled by Railways for journey period March 21-April 15, refund across the counter can be taken on submission of the ticket up to 45 days from the date of the journey instead of the present three hours.
In case a train is not cancelled but the passenger desires to cancel his journey, TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) can be filed within 30 days from date of the journey at the station, instead of present three days.
TDR can also be submitted to the chief commercial officer for getting the refund within 60 days of the filing of TDR subject to verification from train chart, instead of the extant rule of 10 days, the order stated.
For passengers who want to cancel tickets through 139, can get refund across the counter within 30 days from the date of the journey instead of up to the scheduled departure of the train.
In the wake of the call given by prime minister Narendra Modi to observe 'Janata Curfew' on Sunday, the Indian railways on Saturday decided to put brakes on as many as 709 trains.
According to information, 584 trains have been cancelled completely and the rest 125 trains partially.
The Indian Railways has already announced the suspension of train services of over 3,700 passenger locomotives and long-distance mail and express trains, which were scheduled to start their journeys on Sunday due to call of 'Janata Curfew'.
According to the order issued by the railway ministry, no passenger or express train will originate from any railway station of the country between Saturday and Sunday midnight to 10 p.m. on Sunday. This will lead to the cancellation of around 2400 passenger and 1300 express trains.
The Railway Board has issued directions to all zonal heads that passengers already travelling in trains during the shutdown should not face any hassle.
(With IANS Inputs)