Refunds are a major concern for every traveler who has traveled via Indian Railways. One always wonders regarding refund processing for any ticket cancellation or a waitlisted ticket last hour cancellations. Everyone of us must have faced the agony and chaos in the process underneath. Indian Railways, in its latest rules overhaul for ticketing Services, Indian Railways revised some important rights and rules that passengers ought to be aware of when claiming refund on ticket cancellations. At present, train tickets can be cancelled across ticket counters, IRCTC website and through 139.
Here are some key points to take a note of regarding latest refund rules update from Indian Railways:
- If the ticket is surrendered within a given amount of time then the refund would be made across the PRS counter. In case, the passenger has cancelled the train ticket through IRCTC website or 139 then the refund amount can be collected from the reservation counter. For this, the passenger must surrender the original journey ticket within the given time duration.
- In case, the passenger has cancelled the ticket online then the refund amount admissible would be credited to the passenger/customer’s bank account within a duration of 5 days.
- In case, the ticket has been cancelled across the counter then the refund amount will be paid across the counter within 7 days. However, refund through the counter would not be provided if the ticket has been booked on credit card or debit card using POS machines.
- During the train journey, if the air conditioning system of the AC coach stops functioning then in such cases, difference of fare between AC and non AC class of travel for the portion traveled without AC will be refunded across the counter. However, the refund will be made on the basis of a certificate obtained from Guard/TTE of the train.
- To grant refund on unused tickets, station masters/managers across major railway stations have special discretionary powers, where refund is not admissible at the station due to expiry of the given time limit. The list of railway stations with this facility, is available in the respective zonal railway timetable.
- In cases such as bandh agitation, flood etc., and in cases where the passenger is not able to reach the reservation counter within the given duration of time, then in such cases, the passenger can file Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) within 3 days and following this, he/she shall be allowed to apply to CCM for fare refund. In TDR cases, refund is granted within 90 days.
- In case of lost or misplaced tickets, no refund will be granted. In case the authenticity of a torn or mutilated ticket is verifiable, then the refund will be granted on the basis of the particulars that are visible on the face of the ticket. In case the lost or misplaced ticket is confirmed/RAC then a duplicate permit travel on the same reservation will be issued within the given time limit. However, this will be done on payment of charges.
Other important refund rules which are notable for every traveler in Indian Railways include:
- No refunds are admissible for confirmed tatkal tickets.
- An e-ticket cannot be cancelled after the chart has been prepared. In such a case, the online TDR filing can be used to track the status of refund through IRCTC’s tracking service.
- In case the e-ticket is for a family/party, where some passengers have confirmed reservation and others are on RAC or waiting list, the full refund of fare, less clerkage, will be allowed for for confirmed passengers. However, this will happen if the ticket is cancelled online or online TDR is filed for all the passengers within thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.
We hope we have made our efforts in making Indian Railway travelers aware of the newly revised refund rules.