Indian Railways on Tuesday announced an overhaul of its ticket cancellation and boarding rules, insisting that the changes were an attempt to clamp down on black marketing and improve passenger comfort.
Under the new rules, the Railways has introduced a tiered refund system that requires passengers to pay a minimum cancellation fee for confirmed tickets canceled more than 72 hours before the scheduled departure of the train.
If the ticket is canceled between 72 hours and 24 hours before departure, the railway will deduct 25% of the fare, subject to a minimum charge. The discount increases to 50% of the fare when confirmed tickets are canceled between 24 hours and 8 hours before departure.
Passengers will no longer receive any refunds for tickets canceled within eight hours of train departure. Earlier, the no-refund rule only applied to tickets canceled four hours before.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the changes are aimed at dismantling the business model of merchants who “book in bulk and cancel unsold tickets” at the last minute.
“This aims to end the incentive for last-minute black marketing, where people are willing to pay any price,” Vaishnau said.
The revised rules will be implemented in phases between April 1 and April 15 and will address booking patterns in which agents take advantage of refund windows by strategically canceling tickets, especially in earlier blackout periods.
The minister said that passengers will now be allowed to change their boarding station 30 minutes before the scheduled train departure time, provided that this is done through digital means.
“Previously, such changes were only allowed before the booking scheme was prepared. This move is expected to benefit passengers in cities with multiple stations, allowing them to choose a more convenient boarding location without affecting their confirmed seat,” he added.
Vaishnaw also announced that passengers who wish to upgrade their travel class can do so 30 minutes before departure time to obtain counter tickets; This was previously only allowed until a train layout was prepared.
The railways said the changes are aimed at simplifying cancellation rules, reducing misuse of the reservation system and providing greater flexibility to passengers.
They also said the initiatives would discourage agents and promoters from hoarding tickets.
The ministry also revealed that it had deactivated 30 million suspicious user IDs to reduce hoarding.
