Indian Railways Train Ticket Cancellation, Refund Rules: 10 Things To Know
According to IRCTC, the e-ticketing arm of Indian Railways, you can make advance train ticket reservation up to 120 days ahead of the journey date. Indian Railways carries over 2 crore people every day. The ticket cancellation charges of Indian Railways depend on the time of cancellation – number of days or hours ahead of the actual journey you cancel the ticket.
Apart from class of travel – sleeper class, AC 1, AC 2 and AC 3 – ticket cancellation charges also depend on the status of the ticket – whether the ticket is confirmed, waitlisted or in RAC. E-tickets booked through IRCTC cannot be cancelled at railway counters. The refund is credited back to the account used for booking online tickets, after deduction of applicable cancellation charges.
IRCTC/Railways Train ticket cancellation and refund rules explained in 10 points
1) Train ticket cancellation charges are levied on per passenger basis.
2) If confirmed ticket is cancelled up to 48 hours before the scheduled departure of train, then ticket cancellation charges will be deducted at Rs. 240 for AC First Class/Executive Class, Rs. 200 for AC 2 Tier/First Class, Rs. 180 for AC 3 Tier/AC Chair car/AC 3 Economy, Rs.120 for Sleeper Class and Rs.60 for Second Class
3) If confirmed ticket is cancelled within 48 hours and up to 12 hours before the scheduled departure of train, ticket cancellation charges will be 25 per cent of the fare, subject to the minimum flat rate mentioned above.
4) If confirmed ticket is cancelled between 12 hours and up to four hours before the scheduled departure, cancellation charges will be 50 per cent of the fare paid subject, to the minimum cancellation rate.
5) E-tickets cannot be cancelled after chart preparation. No refund of fare shall be admissible on the ticket having confirmed reservation in case ticket is not cancelled or TDR (ticket deposit receipt) not filed online up to four hours before the scheduled departure of the train, according to the IRCTC website.
6) In case of cancellation of trains, for e-tickets, an automatic refund is granted. Filing of TDR or ticket deposit receipt is not required.
Wait-Listed, RAC Train Ticket Cancellation And Refund
7) For RAC (reservation against cancellation) train tickets or wait-listed train tickets cancelled up to 30 minutes before the departure of train, refund will be granted after deduction of clerkage charges. According to IRCTC website, for second class (reserved) and other classes, clerkage charge is Rs. 60 per passenger for cancellation of RAC and waitlisted tickets.
No cancellation charge is levied and full fare is refunded to passengers holding confirmed, RAC and wait-listed tickets if the journey is not undertaken due to late running of train by more than three hours of scheduled departure, subject to the condition that the ticket is surrendered prior to actual departure of train.
For a PRS (Passenger Reservation System) counter ticket, in case of train cancellation, a refund is permissible within three days excluding the scheduled day of departure of train.
Cancellation Of Tatkal Train Ticket
8) Remember no refund is granted on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal train tickets.
9) If a train is running late by more than 3 hours or train is cancelled, you can file TDR for claiming refund, according to IRCTC.
Partial Cancellation Of Train Tickets
10) If there is any partial cancellation of ticket, please ensure that a fresh e-reservation slip (electronic reservation slip) is printed separately as done for the original ticket, according to the IRCTC website.