Refund Rules

INDIAN RAILWAY CATERING & TOURISM

CORPORATION LTD., (IRCTC LTD) a PSU
of ] Ministry of Railways have developed a
system; for advance booking of Rail tickets
through c internet. The website for online
booking is www.irctc.co.in The site is Veri
Sign secured. Booking procedures are simple
and user friendly.

Can I get refunds across the counter? (Refunds) of the Zonal Railway to which the Ticket Deposit
In most cases, if your tickets are surrendered for cancellation Receipt-issuing station belongs.
within the prescribed time limits, you can get refunds This application must be submitted within 10 (Ten) days from
across the counter. the date of your journey. The refund officer will examine the
What are the prescribed limits for refund? case on merit and, if decided, refund will be sent to you by a
Station Pay Order (to be encashed at station) or Money Order
1. In case of confirmed reserved tickets, upto 4 hours be-fore or Crossed Cheque.
the scheduled departure of the train irrespective of
distance. No refund will be granted after that. Will the entire amount be refunded or will I lose some
money?
2. In case of RAC/waitlisted/partially confirmed tickets upto
half an hour before the scheduled departure of the train The fare you paid for your ticket will be refunded after
irrespective of the distance. No refund is permissible after deducting cancellation charges in case of confirmed ticket
that. and clerkage Charge in case of RAC/WL/Unreserved Tickets,
If the ticket is surrendered within the prescribed time limit as
3. For trains departing between 21.00 hours and 06.00 hours per refund rules.
(actual departure), you can get a refund within two hours of
opening of the Reservation Office, in case no current How much will be deducted as cancellation charges?
counters are available at the originating station. The amount deducted is based on the time of cancellation and
Suppose I am unable to get refund within the prescribed the status of your ticket. Detailed are given below:
time limit. (i) For cancellation of confirmed tickets more than 48 hours
(1) For refund of fare under circumstances other than those advance of the scheduled departure of the train.
specified in these rules or under circumstances like Flat cancellation Class of your ticket
‘bandh’ or agitations or floods, etc., the passengers could charges per passenger
not reach the reservation counter or station or current
` 240 AC first/Executive class
counters for cancellation of tickets, in those cases, a TDR
shall be issued to the passenger and the passenger may ` 200 AC-2tier/1st class
apply for refund of fare within ten days from the day of `180 AC-3tier/AC chair car,
commencement of journey to the Chief Commercial AC-3 Economy
Manager (Refunds) of the railway administration under
`120 Sleeper
whose jurisdiction the TDR issuing station comes,
enclosing the original TDR. ` 60 Second class
(2) The TDR shall be issued only upto three days after the (ii) For cancellation of confirmed tickets less than 48 hrs and
scheduled departure of the train. upto 12 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train, the
cancellation charges will be 25% of the total fare paid by
Suppose I am unable to approach the concerned
you subject fo minimum flat cancellation charge.
authorities, what do I do?
(iii) For cancellation of confirmed tickets less than 12 hrs
In exceptional circumstances you may obtain a Ticket
before the scheduled departure of the train and upto 4 hrs
Deposit Receipt (TDR) from the nearest major station within
before the scheduled departure of the train, the
3 (Three) days from the day of scheduled travel. You must
cancellation charges will be 50% of the fare paid by you,
then submit an application in the prescribed form (Printed on
subject to mini-mum flat cancellation charges for each
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the back of TDR) to the Chief Commercial Manager

class.

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(iv) For cancellation of RAC/Waitlisted tickets if ticket is Can I claim refund if I had to travel In a lower class, even though I
presented for cancellation upto half an hour before the had a higher class ticket?
scheduled departure of the train irrespective of distance, full If you were forced to travel in a lower class for want of accommoda-
refund of fare will be given, after deducting the clerkage charge tion, you can get a refund of difference of fare between fare paid and
per passenger. fare for the class actually travelled. This refund should be claimed
If you are having a ticket with several legs of journey, if the first leg of within 2 days of the date of issue of the certificate (excluding the
the journey is confirmed the whole ticket will be treated as a confirmed date of issue) of the arrival of the train at your destination. To claim
ticket for purpose of applying cancella-tion/refund rules. On the other this refund, you will need to submit your ticket along with the certificate
issued by the Travelling Ticket Examiner.
hand if the first leg of the jour-ney is in the waiting list, even if the all the
other legs of onward journey are confirmed, the whole ticket will still be I had a reserved ticket but I was not provided accommodation.
treated only as waitlisted ticket for purpose of granting refund. Can I ask for full refund?
Cancellation of Reserved counter tickets through IRCTC or through If you were not provided accommodation due to unforeseen circum-
139. stances, you are entitled to full refund of the fare paid by you with-out
any deductions. To claim this refund, you should surrender your ticket
In order to facilitate the passengers who wants to cancel the counter at the journey originating station within three hours after the actual
PRS ticket within the prescribed time limit as per Refund Rule 2015, departure of the train.
now apart from cancellation of tickets across PRS counters they can
cancel the same subject to certain condition through IRCTC website Will I be able to get a refund if I do not wish to travel due to late
(www.irctc.co.in) or through 139. This has been implemented from running of trains?
May 2016. The details are as under:- If your train is running late by more than three hours, you can get a
Confirmed, RAC and Waitlisted counter tickets can be cancelled refund of full fare paid by you without any deductions. You can claim
through IRCTC website (www.irctc.co.in) or through 139 within the this refund at the journey commencing station upto the actual
prescribed time limit as per Refund Rule 2015 and permissible refund departure of the train.
amount is required to be collected across the reservation counter as I could not continue my onward Journey due to late running of
per the following schedule:- the connecting train. Can I claim a refund?
(i) For tickets cancelled (including return journey) before 24 hours of After deducting fare for the travelled portion, you will be refunded the
the scheduled train departure time: balance fare.
“Refund of fare as permissible can be collected on the submission To claim this refund, you are required to surrender your ticket at the
of original PRS counter ticket from any PRS counter of Indian station, within three hours of the actual arrival of the train which has
Railways upto four hours before the scheduled departure of the been delayed.
train in case of confirmed tickets and upto thirty minutes before Can I claim full refund if my train is cancelled?
the scheduled departure of the train in case of RAC/waitlisted
If your train is cancelled due to accidents, breaches or floods, you will
tickets.”
be refunded the full fare paid by you. To claim this refund, you should
(ii) For tickets cancelled (including return journey tickets) between 24 surrender your ticket within three days of the scheduled de-parture of
hours and upto 4 hours for the confirmed tickets and upto thirty the train.
minutes for RAC/waitlisted tickets before the scheduled
What about refund for a ticket where some passengers are
departure time. Confirmed and others are Waitlisted?
“Refund of fare as permissible can be collected only at the journey In combined tickets, where few passengers are Waitlisted and oth-ers
commencing station or nearby satellite locations defined by Zonal are Confirmed, you will be given full refund less clerka ge charge in
Railways as per the following time schedule:- respect of all passengers. If such tickets are cancelled upto half an
(a) During first two hours of the opening of PRS counters on next day hour before the scheduled departure of the train
for the tickets for the trains whose scheduled departure time is (i) Can I get a refund on a ticket that I have lost?
between 1801 hours and 0600 hours.
No, you cannot get any refund on a lost ticket. However, you will be
(b) Upto 4 hours after the scheduled departure of the train during the allowed to travel on the reservation already made, after paying the
working hours of PRS counter/current counters/special counters prescribed charges for the issue of a duplicate ticket. In your own
where cancellation is permitted round the clock on the tickets for interest, you are requested to inform the Reservation Office
the trains whose scheduled departure time is between 0601 immediately about the loss of your ticket. This will also help prevent
hours and 1800 hours. fraudulent refund claims.
(c). No refund of amount would be given after the above mentioned How much will it cost me to get a duplicate ticket?
prescribed time limit.
If the loss of your Confirmed/RAC ticket is reported before the prep-
The above facility is available only in case the mobile number has aration of the Reservation Chart, a duplicate ticket will be issued on
been given at the time of booking of the ticket. collection of Rs. 50 per passenger for second & sleeper class and Rs.
100 per passenger for other classes.
More questions answered on refund of tickets
In case of the loss of your confirmed ticket is reported after prepara-
Can refund be claimed if the AC fails during the journey?
tion of the Reservation Chart, a duplicate ticket will be issued on col-
Yes, passengers travelling by air conditioned class can claim re-fund if lection of 50% of the fare. No duplicate ticket will be prepared after
the AC fails enroute. You can get a refund of difference of fare for the preparation of Reservation chart in case of RAC tickets.
distance the AC was not functioning.
Are the duplicate ticket charges refundable, if I find the
This refund should be claimed immediately at the end of the journey or ticket?
within 20 hours of the arrival of the train at the destination, on
production of the ticket and certificate issued by the Travelling Ticket If your original ticket is found and presented along with your
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Examiner. duplicate ticket, before the departure of the train, you will be

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 refunded the amount paid for your duplicate ticket. However, unreserved, wait-listed & RAC tickets. The amount of clerkage
5% of the total amount will be deducted, subject to a minimum charge is Rs. 60 per passenger, except for second class
of Rs. 20/- unreserved tickets where it is Rs. 30.
My little son tore my ticket. Can I get a duplicate ticket? How much refund is given on surrendering unused
If the ticket that was torn/mutilated was a Confirmed one or unreserved ticket?
RAC, a duplicate ticket will be issued on collection of 25% of If an unused unreserved ticket is presented for cancellation,
the fare, after the preparation of Reservation Chart. Before full fare is refunded after deducting the per passenger
chart preparation, charges are same as applicable for issue of clerkage charge provided that the ticket is surrendered for
duplicate ticket in lieu of the lost/misplaced ticket. No cancellation to the station master.
duplicate ticket will be issued in case of mutilated Waitlisted (i) within 3 hours of issue of tickets.
tickets. Besides, refund is admissible on torn/mutilated ticket if
its genuineness and authenticity are verified on the basis of (ii) In case tickets issued in advance, the ticket is presented
particulars visible on the face of such a ticket. upto 24 hours of the day preceding the day of journey.
What is clerkage charge and when is it levied?
Same as otherwise mentioned, clerkage is a charge levied for
the clerical work rendered in refund of fares on cancellation of

Rail Travel Concessions

fares applicable to Passenger trains, superfast

surcharge, reservation fee and Goods and Service Tax
(GST) tax etc.
2. All types of concessions can be availed only when
tickets are purchased across the counter at Stations &
Reservation/ Booking offices etc. No one is granted
concession on the train.
3. Availing two different types of concessions by the same
person for the same journey is not permissible.
4. The concessional ticket cannot be changed to a higher
class even if you are willing to pay the difference in fare.
Railways provide travel concessions to various categories
of travellers, like students, sports persons, scouts and 5. In certain cases where concession is admissible in First
guides, farmers, industrial workers, teachers, senior Class but not in AC 2-tier, concession tickets for AC 2-
citizens, handicapped persons, etc. For easy reference, we tier can be purchased on payment of concessional fare
have drawn up a Rail Travel Concession Table, showing for First Class plus the difference of actual fare of First
details of travellers eligible for concession, amount of class and AC 2-tier.
concession and the conditions, if any, for availing the 6. Concession is not admissible for a journey where the
concession. The Table is divided into two parts. “Part A” cost of travel is borne by Central/State Governments/
contains those concessions which are available directly at Local Bodies/ Corporations or Govt. Undertakings,
stations & booking/ reservation offices by producing the Universities, etc.
necessary documents. “Part-B” contains those concessions
7. Some of the concessions are admissible subject to the
where the persons should approach the designated
minimum distance of journey which have been specified
Commercial Officers of the Railway in the Area, Division or
in the relevant categories.
Zonal Railway Headquarters. After verifying the eligibility,
the Officers issue necessary authorization letter on the 8. It may be noted that the general and broad information
basis of which, the Station Managers & Booking/ about availability of concessions has been provided in
Reservation offices issue concessional tickets. the following pages, and is only indicative. This is not a
substitute for the concerned Tariff books on Railway
If you are eligible for any of the concessions, please
Concessions which contain detailed information,
remember...
procedure, conditions, prescribed formats and
1. Concession is admissible on basic Mail/Express/ certificates needed for availing such concessions.
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Rajdhani/Shatabdi/etc fares only and not on ‘Ordinary’

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