NEW DELHI: As part of initiating reforms across the railways under the '52 Reforms in 52 Weeks' initiative, the Ministry of Railways on Tuesday announced that there will be no refund for the cancellation of train tickets up to eight hours before departure, instead of the existing norm of four hours. The new refund rule will be effective between April 1 and 15 this year.
Along with this reform, the Railways has also introduced a change allowing passengers to update their train boarding station digitally up to 30 minutes before the train’s departure.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while announcing five new reforms under what he termed the 'Reforms Express', said that the new refund rule is aimed at curbing last-minute speculative bookings and ensuring tickets for genuine passengers at no extra cost.
"The new refund rule, which is being made effective after wider consultations, is aimed at curbing last-minute speculative bookings and ensure tickets for genuine passengers at no extra cost," he said.
He also explained that the new refund rule would help the Railways curb misuse of the ticketing system and improve access for genuine travellers.
"The ticket black-marketing and misuse of the Tatkal system had been a major concern. To address this, the Railways introduced technology to detect bots and fraudulent software, and it helped the Railways in detecting fraudulent bookings under Tatkal, and over 3.5 crore fake accounts from the IRCTC system were deactivated."
He further stated that other refund slabs have also been revised: a cancellation between 24 and eight hours will incur a 50 per cent deduction from the ticket cost.
This is currently applicable for cancellations made between 12 and four hours. He added that the Railways will deduct 25 per cent of the ticket cost for cancellations made between 72 and 24 hours before departure.
However, a full refund, except for a flat cancellation charge per passenger, will be given for cancellations made more than 72 hours before the train's departure.
Under the existing policy, cancellations made between 48 and 12 hours incur a 25 per cent deduction of the ticket cost, while a full refund is given for cancellations made more than 48 hours in advance.
Vaishnaw further stated that travel class upgrades will now be permitted up to 30 minutes before departure for passengers holding counter tickets. Previously, passengers could upgrade their travel class only before the train's first chart was prepared.
He also said that, in the near future, counter tickets can be cancelled from any railway station across the country, removing the earlier restriction that required cancellation only at the originating station.
The most significant change he highlighted was that the Railways has now removed the requirement of filing a Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) for e-tickets, and refunds will instead be processed automatically upon cancellation.
He also announced a reform regarding changes to train boarding points. He stated that passengers will now be allowed to change their boarding point up to 30 minutes before the train's scheduled departure. Currently, such changes are permitted only before the preparation of the first chart.
Explaining the reform, Vaishnaw said that if a passenger holds a confirmed ticket between station A and Z, and due to a sudden change in plans wishes to change the boarding point from station A to B, under the new reform, the passenger will be able to digitally update their boarding point to B up to 30 minutes before the train departs from the origin station A.
Vaishnaw also announced reforms in salt and automobile transportation, including the introduction of special non-corrosive containers and specialised wagons for carrying vehicles.
"The mechanised loading and unloading of salts will be done now for efficient handling," he said, adding that several reforms in construction and automobile transportation will also be introduced soon.
He outlined that reforms in the railway construction sector have been made regarding eligibility criteria and contractor capacity assessment.
The Railways is gradually introducing reforms across various sectors and services as part of its plan to implement 52 reforms within 52 weeks, and has recently introduced several changes in onboard cleaning and other services.