New Delhi, 24 March (H.S.):

Indian Railways has rolled out a major overhaul of ticket cancellation and refund rules making the system simpler more transparent and easier for passengers while denying any additional burden on travellers as part of its ‘Reform Express’ initiative announced by Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Tuesday at Rail Bhawan.

The ministry clarified that under the new framework chart preparation time will now be set 9 to 18 hours before train departure instead of the previous 4 hours enabling passengers to know much earlier whether their tickets are confirmed or waitlisted and plan alternatives in time.

On cancellations if a traveller cancels more than 72 hours before departure they will receive refund after the existing minimum deduction; 72 to 24 hours cancellation will attract 25 per cent fare deduction subject to minimum charge while 24 to 8 hours cancellation will incur 50 per cent fare deduction same conditions apply; tickets cancelled less than 8 hours before departure will not be refunded except in very limited exceptional cases.

To ease the refund process electronic tickets no longer require filling out a TDR form refunds will be processed automatically as soon as cancellation is made. Counter tickets can now be cancelled from any railway station across the country sparing passengers the earlier inconvenience of returning to the originating station. Travellers can also change their boarding station up to 30 minutes before train departure and upgrade their travel class to a higher class 30 minutes before departure if seats are available.

The Railways said some media reports wrongly portray these changes as additional financial burden on passengers emphasizing that no new extra charges have been introduced. The transparent reworked rules not only give passengers timely accurate information but also curb proxy booking and speculative practices by agents while keeping the overall cost structure unchanged.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar