Train Ticket Refund Rules

Train Ticket Refund Rules

Indian Railway has so many rules and procedure for train ticket cancellation. In this post, you will get complete details about Train Ticket Refund rules related to passenger ticket cancellation and refund of the amount.

• Refund of Cancelled Tickets ~ Refund Rule
• Confirmed Tickets Cancellation
• Partially Confirmed Tickets Cancellation Charge
• Cancellation of tickets with no Confirmed Ticket
• Cancellation Charges for RAC or Waitlisted Tickets
• Full Wait list Ticket Refund Details
• TATKAL Tickets Refund Rule
• Ticket booked in Premium Special Trains Refund Rule
• Train Running More than 3 hours Late
• Not Travel due to Late running of Trains
• Train AC not working – Refund Rule
• Cancellation of Train
• Train Diverted
• Refund on partially used tickets
• Ticket Cancellation Rules
• PROVISION OF SATELLITE STATIONS FOR COLLECTION OF REFUND AMOUNT
• TRAIN TICKETS BY UNAUTHORISED AGENTS ~ REFUND RULE
• SECOND CLASS (2S) RESERVED TICKET : REFUND RULE
• OTP BASED REFUND SYSTEM FOR TRAIN TICKETS
• TRAIN TICKET CANCELLATION : REFUND RULES
  • Passenger travel in Lower class Refund
  • GST : TRAIN TICKET REFUND RULE
  • DEMONETIZATION : REFUND RULE AGAIN REVISED BY RAILWAY
  • Cancellation of Ticket with Several legs of Journey
• Train Ticket Refund Form ~ Download
• FAQs

• Real – Time Tracking of Train Ticket Refund Status
• Child Fare Rule in Trains 
• Ticket Booking via Railway Reservation Counter
• TDR Rules in Indian Railway

Refund – Time Limit

1	Coaching Refunds	45 Days after submission of TDR and claim
2	Goods Refund	180 Days
3	Claims for non-delivery of Wagons	180 Days
4	Claims for non-delivery of Parcel	180 Days
5	Shortage / damage / leading to complaints / open delivery etc.	90 Days

REFUND OF CANCELLED TICKETS ~ REFUND RULE

Indian Railway announced via press release on 02.08.2023 that the occupancy of trains on Indian Railways varies throughout the year, with distinct patterns during lean and peak periods. During peak rush times, especially on popular routes, trains are usually fully occupied, while during the lean period and on less popular routes, the utilization is not optimal. To manage reserved accommodations efficiently and address potential vacancies due to cancellations, waiting list tickets are issued. This helps avoid turning away passengers due to full bookings and allows the Railways to assess demand patterns.

Monitoring of waiting list positions is done regularly for trains on Indian Railways. To cater to additional demand, various measures are taken, such as augmenting the capacity of existing trains, operating special trains, introducing new trains, and increasing the frequency of existing ones, all subject to operational feasibility.

When a ticket with all passengers on the waiting list is automatically cancelled before the preparation of the first reservation charts, an auto refund process is initiated. The refund amount is advised to the bank on the following day.

In cases where money is debited, but the ticket is not booked, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) triggers an automatic refund process on the following day. The refund amount is sent to the Payment Gateway/bank through which the booking amount was received. The time taken for the bank to process the refund depends on the mode of transaction:

• For Net banking/Wallet/Cash Card transactions, it usually takes 3-4 business days.
• For Credit card/Debit card transactions, it typically takes 6-7 business days.

Passengers have the option to avail of “Book Now Pay Later” on the Mobile App and an EMI option available on the website as payment options. Instructions have been reiterated to all zonal Railways to ensure expeditious clearance for police, paramilitary, and armed forces personnel. This can be achieved by attaching additional coaches to trains and/or earmarking second-class coaches for their travel, subject to feasibility, as long as they hold valid travel authority. This step is taken to provide adequate facilities for these personnel during their travel on Indian Railways.

PROVISION OF SATELLITE STATIONS FOR COLLECTION OF REFUND AMOUNT DETAILS

TRAIN TICKETS BY UNAUTHORISED AGENTS ~ REFUND RULE

Indian Railway announced that Train Tickets booked through unauthorised agents or scripting can be released without refund. So passengers should input correct mobile number for getting timely alerts on booked journey.

SECOND CLASS (2S) RESERVED TICKET : REFUND RULE

IRCTC announced that Second class (2S) reserved ticket holders are advised to check their PNR status (“Trains” menu > “PNR Enquiry”) before journey. If 2S reserved ticket holders are receiving PNR status as “Route class deleted / Booking not allowed as given class for the route is deleted” on PNR enquiry, they may cancel such tickets to get full refund.

OTP BASED REFUND SYSTEM FOR TRAIN TICKETS

Indian Railways introduced a new OTP based refund system for tickets booked through authorized railway ticketing agents, Railway announced through a press release on 29.10.2019.

This is aimed to bring in a transparent and customer friendly refund system for reserved e-tickets which are cancelled or which are fully waitlisted dropped tickets. This new system will be implemented by Indian Railways PSU, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC).

How does it’s Work?

• The OTP (One time Password) will be received as SMS on the registered mobile number of the passenger (provided by the customer/passenger to the agent at the time of booking).
• The customer/passenger will be required to share the OTP with the agent who booked the ticket, for getting the refund amount.

Through this user friendly facility, passenger will come to know about the exact refund amount received by agent on his behalf against cancelled ticket or fully waitlisted dropped ticket.

Main Objective of the Scheme

The objective of the scheme is to streamline the cancellation refund process further so that cancellation amount is refunded timely to the customer by the agents.

Customers are advised:

• To provide correct mobile no. of one of the passengers to the Railway authorised agent at the time of booking reserved rail e-tickets.
• To ensure that the agent records his or her mobile no. correctly at the time of booking reserved rail e-tickets.
• Only Railway authorised agents are permitted to book reserved rail e-tickets to the customer
• OTP based refund for cancelled tickets or fully waitlisted dropped tickets will be processed only if the ticket is booked through Railway authorised agents.

GST : TRAIN TICKET REFUND RULE

Refund of Tickets booked before and after the implementation of GST are following . The following procedure may be followed for refund of fare and Service Tax/GST for all the upper classes (GST applicable classes) 

• Refund after the cancellation of tickets shall be made as per extant refund rule. 
• GST amount on cancellation/clerkage charge shall be levied separately.
• In case of ticket purchased in advance before the implementation of GST, and the same is cancelled after implementation of GST, refund amount due as per refund rule shall be refunded to the passenger. However the total amount of Service Tax charged at the time of booking shall not be refunded to passenger in cash/ shall not be transferred in the account from which transaction took place in case of e-tickets, etc. Refund of Service Tax shall be made only after Ministry of Railway gets a refund from the Department. The cancelled ticket shall be treated as Credit Note for getting a refund of Service Tax amount. 
• In case of ticket purchased and cancelled after implementation of GST, there will be a levy of GST at the time of purchase and if the same is cancelled, GST refund indicated in the cancelled ticket will be treated as Credit Note. GST on the amount refundable to the passenger will be given in cash across the counter. 

TRAIN TICKET CANCELLATION : REFUND RULES

Ticket Booking/cancellation Hours: 00.20 HRS to 23.45 HRS

There are many rules for getting the money back after the cancellation of Indian Railway train tickets including Reserved tickets and unreserved tickets and e-Tickets. Certain provision of Refund rule have been amended and comprehensive refund rules have been notified in 12.11.2015. Following are the rules related to refund of train tickets cancellation amount.

I-Ticket services through Railway website have been discontinued w.e.f. 01.03.2018.

• Railway Service Charges for I-Ticket (Fancy name for a paper ticket bought through their website) (Service charge levied is not Refundable)
  • Sleeper Class/Second Class (SL/2S) :  Rs.80/- per ticket plus service Tax
  • Higher Class (1AC, 2AC, 3AC, CC, 3E, FC, EC) : Rs.120/- per ticket plus service Tax
• Railway Service Charges for E-Ticket (Service charge levied is not Refundable)
  • Sleeper Class/Second Class (SL/2S) : Rs.20/- per ticket plus service Tax
  • Higher Class (1AC, 2AC, 3AC, CC, 3E, FC, EC) :  Rs.40/- per ticket plus service Tax

Refund Rules

✅ Reservation Failed Transaction

If amount getting debited from customer account and ticket not issued, Railway will refund the entire Fare and Railway service charges electronically(as credit to the relevant credit /debit card account used for the transaction), but the bank/card transaction charges are likely to be forfeited.

Railway’s payment reconciliation team works on a 24 x 7 basis, Railway offers no guarantees whatsoever for the accuracy or timeliness of the refunds reaching the Customers card/bank accounts. This is on account of the multiplicity of organizations involved in processing of online transactions, the problems with Internet infrastructure currently available and working days/holidays of financial institutions.

✅ Refund on cancellation

i-tickets : –  You cannot cancel this ticket online. You have to queue up at a railway booking counter and produce the ticket and the booking clerk cancels it for you. You have to buy an i – Ticket at least 3 days before the journey date. This time is required because the ticket is physically delivered to the customer’s address.

e-tickets : –  This ticket shall be cancelled through internet and the refund of fare shall be credited to the account from which booking transaction took place, after deducting the applicable charges. In case of e-tickets shall be cancelled online or online TDR shall be filed within the time limits prescribed under these rules for obtaining refund. All refund will be processed as per Extant Railway Refund Rules

✅ Cancellation Charges for Confirmed Tickets

The amount deducted is based on the time of cancellation and the status of your ticket. Detailed explanations are given below.

• If the ticket is presented for cancellation more than 48 hours in advance of the scheduled departure of the train, a minimum per passenger cancellation charges shall be deducted at the flat rate, details are given below:-

Cancellation Charges for Confirmed Tickets
Cancellation Charges/Passengers (Rs./-)	Tickets Class
240	AC first/Executive Class
200	AC-2 Tier/ First Class
180	AC-3 Tier/ AC chair car, AC-3 Economy
120	Sleeper
60	Second Class

For cancellation of confirmed tickets less than 48 hrs and upto 12 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train	The cancellation charges will be 25% of the total fare paid by you subject of minimum flat cancellation charge.
For cancellation of confirmed tickets less than 12 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train and up to 4 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train irrespective of distance	The cancellation charges will be 50% of the fare paid by you, subject to minimum flat cancellation charges for each class.

• No refund of fare shall be admissible on the ticket having confirmed reservation in case ticket is not cancelled or TDR not filed online upto 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train.
• No refund of fare shall be admissible on RAC e-tickets in case the ticket is not cancelled or TDR not filed online upto thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.

✅ Cancellation Charges for RAC or Waitlisted Tickets

• In case of e-tickets shall be cancelled online or online TDR shall be filed within the time limits prescribed under these rules for obtaining refund.
• Where a RAC ticket or wait-listed ticket is presented for cancellation, the refund of fare shall be made after deducting the clerkage if the ticket is present for cancellation upto thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train irrespective of the distance.

Clerkage Charge : – 

Upto 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train irrespective of the distance

Clerkage charge Rs.60 per passenger plus service Tax applicable for all AC Classes.

• No refund shall be granted on RAC ticket or wait-listed ticket after thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train. 
• Where confirmed reservation has been provided to RAC or wait-listed ticket holder at any time upto final preparation of reservation chart, such ticket shall be treated as a reserved ticket and cancellation charges shall be payable in accordance with rule of Cancellation Charges for Confirmed Tickets.

✅ RAC/WL Ticket Cancellation Charges / Clerk Charges:

Per Passenger Charge (GST Additional for AC Class) :-

Class →	1A/EC	2A	3A	CC	FC	SL	2S
RAC/WL	60	60	60	60	60	60	30

✅ Cancellation Charges for Partially Confirmed Tickets

• In case of e-tickets shall be cancelled online or online TDR shall be filed within the time limits prescribed under these rules for obtaining refund.
• In case, on a party e-ticket or a family e-ticket issued for travel of more than one passenger, some passengers have confirmed reservation and others are on RAC or waiting list, full refund of fare, less clerkage, shall be admissible for confirmed passengers also subject to the condition that the ticket shall be cancelled online or online TDR shall be filed for all the passengers upto thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.
• In case of party e-ticket or family e-ticket issued for travel of more than one passenger, some passengers have confirmed reservation and others are on the list of RAC or waiting list, then in case of passengers or RAC or waiting list not travelling, a certificate shall be obtained from the ticket checking staff to that effect and refund of fare shall be processed online through TDR, indicating the details of the certificate issued by ticket checking staff and the online TDR shall be filed upto 72 hours of actual arrival of the train at passengers’ destination and the original certificate issued by ticket checking staff shall be sent through post to Group General Manager/IT, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd., Internet Ticketing Centre, IRCA Building, State Entry Road, New Delhi – 110055.

✅ Full Wait list Ticket

e-tickets	i-ticket
In case of wait-listed e-tickets on which of all the passengers is on waiting list even after preparation of reservation chart, names of all such passengers booked on that Passenger Name Record(PNR) shall be dropped from the reservation chart and refund of fare shall be credited to the account from which booking transaction took place after deducting clerkage.	In case of wait-list i-ticket, such tickets can be cancelled at the computerised Passenger Reservation System(PRS) counter upto thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train irrespective of the distance.

No refund of fare shall be granted on RAC or wait-listed ticket after thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.

✅ Cancellation of Train

• e-tickets : – In case of cancellation of trains, automatic full refund of fare on confirmed or RAC e-tickets shall be directly credited to the account from which booking transaction took place and online cancellation or filing of TDR shall not be required in such case.
• i-tickets : – In case of i-ticket, the ticket can be cancelled upto 72 hrs after the scheduled departure of train at any computerized reservation counter .

✅Train Diverted 

• Train Diverted And Passenger Not Traveled – TDR shall be filed upto 72 hours of schedule departure of the train at passenger’s Boarding station.
• Train Diverted And Train Not Touching Boarding Station. – TDR shall be filed upto 72 hours of schedule departure of the train at passenger’s Boarding station.
• Train Diverted And Train Not Touching Destination Station – TDR shall be filed upto 72 hours  of schedule departure of the train at passenger’s Boarding station.

✅ Train Running More than 3 hours Late and passenger not travelled :-

No cancellation charge or clerkage shall be levied and full fare shall be refunded to all passengers holding reserved, RAC and wait-listed tickets, if the journey is not undertaken due to late running of the train by more than 3 hours of the scheduled departure of the train from the station commencing journey subject to the condition that 

• e-ticket: – In case of e-ticket, the TDR is filed online before the actual departure of the train for availing  full refund.
• i-ticket : – In case of i-ticket, the ticket surrendered upto the actual departure of the train.
• In case the ticket is cancelled or surrendered or if the request for refund of fare is filed online after the actual departure of train. No refund of fare shall be admissible.

✅ Cancellation of tickets where railway administration is unable to provide accommodation:-

Where a railway administration is unable to provide accommodation for any reason whatsoever to passengers holding reserved tickets, no cancellation charge shall be levied and full refund of fare shall be granted to them if such tickets are surrendered for refund within 3 hours from the actual departure of the train.

Provided that when the train is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances such as accident, breach or flood, the ticket is surrendered within 3 days excluding the scheduled day of departure of the train.

✅ Refund on partially used tickets

• Where a passenger terminates the journey enroute, a ticket deposit receipt (TDR) shall be issued to the ticket holder by the station master of the station in lieu of surrender of the ticket. The original certificate issued by ticket checking staff shall be sent through post to Group General Manager/IT, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd., Internet Ticketing Centre, IRCA Building, State Entry Road, New Delhi – 110055.
• i-ticket : – In case of i-ticket, The TDR shall be issued only upto 3 days after the scheduled departure of the train.
• e-ticket : – In case of e-ticket, TDR is filed online upto 72 hours after the scheduled departure of the train.
• The TDR shall be issued to the passenger and the passenger may apply for refund of fare within 10 days from the date of commencement of journey.

✅ Refund of certain fare on failure to provide air-conditioning facility in air-conditioned coaches:-

• Where the air-conditioning facility could not be provided for a portion of journey, refund on tickets issued for air-conditioned coaches shall be granted for such portion on the following basis namely 

1. If the ticket is for air-conditioned first class, the difference between the air-conditioned first class fare and first class fare;
2. If the ticket is for air-conditioned II-tier or air-conditioned III-tier class, the difference between air-conditioned II-tier or air-conditioned III tier class fare and sleeper class fare(Mail and Express);
3. If the ticket is for air-conditioned chair car, the difference between air-conditioned chair car fare and second class fare (Mail and Express);
4. If the ticket is for executive class, the difference between the notified executive class fare for the concerned section and first class fare (Mail and Express) for the concerned distance of that section.

e-ticket : – in case of e-ticket the online TDR shall be filed upto 20 hours of actual arrival of the train at passenger’s destination and the original certificate (GC/EFT) issued by the ticket checking staff (TTE) at the time of journey is to be send to following address: through post: Group General Manager/IT, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd., Internet Ticketing Centre, IRCA Building, State Entry Road, New Delhi – 110055.

i-ticket : – In case of i-ticket the original certificate (GC/EFT) issued by the ticket checking staff (TTE) at the time of journey is to be send to following address: through post: Group General Manager/IT, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd., Internet Ticketing Centre, IRCA Building, State Entry Road, New Delhi – 110055 Refund will be processed through TDR only after receiving the original certificate (GC/EFT). Railway will forward the claim to Concerned Zonal Railways under whose jurisdiction the train destination falls. After receipt of the refund amount from the said Railway, refund amount will be credited back to same account of user through which payment was made through opted payment Gateway. 

✅ Refund of fare when passenger are made to travel in lower class for want of accommodation:-

If the ticket holder of a higher class is made to travel in a lower class for want accommodation in the class for which the ticket was issued, refund of the difference between the fare paid and the fare payable for the class in which it is actually used.

e-ticket : – In case of e-ticket, the online TDR shall be filed within 2 days of the date of issue of the certificate (excluding the day of issue of the certificate) and the original certificate (GC/EFT) issued by the ticket checking staff (TTE) at the time of journey is to be send to following address: through post: Group General Manager/IT, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd., Internet Ticketing Centre, IRCA Building, State Entry Road, New Delhi –110055.

i-ticket : – In case of i-ticket, the original certificate (GC/EFT) issued by the ticket checking staff (TTE) at the time of journey is to be send to following address: through post: Group General Manager/IT, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd., Internet Ticketing Centre, IRCA Building, State Entry Road, New Delhi – 110055. 

Refund will be processed through TDR only after receiving the original certificate (GC/EFT). Railway will forward the claim to Concerned Zonal Railways under whose jurisdiction the train destination falls. After receipt of the refund amount from the said Railway, refund amount will be credited back to same account of user through which payment was made through opted payment Gateway.

✅ Cancellation of Ticket with Several legs of Journey

• If a passenger having a ticket with several legs of Journey and the first leg of the journey is confirmed the whole ticket will be treated as a confirmed ticket for purpose of applying cancellation/refund rules.
• If the first leg of the journey is in the waiting list, even if the all the other legs of onwards journey are confirmed, the whole ticket will still be treated only as waitlisted ticket for purpose fo granting refund.

Not Travel due to late running of Trains

If the train is running late by more than three hours, the passenger can get a refund of full fare without any deduction. Passenger can claim this refund at the journey commencing station upto the actual departure of the train

✅ TATKAL Tickets : Indian Rail Refund Rule

• No refund of fare shall be admissible on confirmed Tatkal Tickets.
• Grant of refund for unused Cancellation Charges for RAC or Waitlisted Tickets as per Cancellation Charges for RAC or Waitlisted Tickets.
• In case of party tatkal ticket or family tatkal ticket issued for travel for more than one passenger, some passengers have confirmed reservation and others are on waiting list, full refund of fare, less clerkage shall be admissible for confirmed passengers also subject to the condition that entire tatkal ticket is surrendered for cancellation upto thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train
• Grant of refund in case of non-commencement or missing of journey due to late running of train shall be governed by the rule of Train Running More than 3 hours Late and passenger not travelled”.
• Cancellation of ticket where Railway administration is unable to provide accommodation shall be governed by the rule of Cancellation of tickets where railway administration is unable to provide accommodation”.
• Refund of fare on tatkal tickets when passengers are made to travel in lower class for want of accommodation shall be governed by the rule of Refund of fare when passenger are made to travel in lower class for want of accommodation” and the refund of difference between tatkal charges, if any, shall also be granted.

Note: Where confirmed reservation has been provided to RAC or Waitlisted ticket holder at any time upto final preparation of charts, such ticket shall be treated as confirmed/partially confirmed and cancellation charges shall be payable as applicable to confirmed/partially confirmed tickets.

Ticket booked in Premium Special Trains

• Cancellation of CNF/RAC ticket booked in Premium Special Trains is not allowed. However, ticket can be cancelled only if the train is cancelled. Refund will be granted by PRS system as per extant Railway Refund Rules.

DEMONETIZATION : TRAIN REFUND RULE AGAIN REVISED BY RAILWAY

Railway Sets Rs.5,000/- as Cash Refund Limit for Tickets

The Railway Ministry has ordered that cash refund for cancellation of tickets will not be allowed above Rs.5000/- from November 16 – 24, a famous News paper reported. Earlier, the refund limit was set at Rs.10000/- , a decision which has already yielded results as the number of ticket bookings has now halved.

As soon as the demonetization was announced, people queued up in large numbers at Passenger Reservation Centers to book tickets, particularly in AC-I and AC-II, that too for the longest distance possible, to get rid of unaccounted cash. A senior official said, “On November 13, 4.27 crore passengers were nationally booked across all classes. Of these, only 1,209 were AC-I and 16,999 for AC-II. It is a sharp dip from the number of passengers booked on November 9, when 27,237 passengers had booked tickets in AC-I and 69,950 in AC-II,” Newspaper reported.

Booking Status from 8.11.2016 to 13.11.2016

Date	AC-I	AC-II	AC-III	TOTAL PASSENGERS
8-Nov	2,207	37,240	1.1 lakh	8.9 Cr
9-Nov	27,237	69,950	1.4 lakh	9.3 Cr
11-Nov	4,309	44,201	1.3 lakh	8.3 Cr
12-Nov	2,170	30,160	98,246	7 Cr
13-Nov	1,209	16,299	57,136	4.3 Cr

The official said” The number of restrictions imposed by the Railway Board on November 10 to book and cancel tickets had the desired impact. There are now shorter queues at PRS, where tickets can be booked with old Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes till November 24.”

Since November 10, the Railways ordered cancellation of tickets and refund of fare value of Rs.10000 and above will not be allowed in cash or through pay order or by any means involving cash across the counter. The payment shall be only through cheque/electronic payment. It also said tickets above Rs.10000 may refunded by filling ticket deposit receipt (TDS) only on surrendering the original tickets. Railway officials were instructed that any cash transactions above Rs.50,000 be accepted only after obtaining a copy of the PAN cards.

Special Advice By Railway regarding Refund Process

• E ticket cancellation refund process is fully automatic. There is no human intervention required in the refund process. Users are requested not to share their account details in any form.
• Users are requested not to share their booking and cancellations details on social media platforms to avoid misuse by miscreants.
• Users are requested not to search Google and other similar platforms for Railway related queries as these platforms contain many miscreant mobile apps and solutions aimed at misusing user credentials. Users should refer to Railway website for all ticketing and refund related queries.

Train Ticket Refund Form ~ Download

FAQs

✅ What is clerkage charge and when is it levied?

Clerkage is a charge levied for the clerical work rendered in refund of fares on cancellation of unreserved wait-listed and RAC tickets. The amount of clerkage charge is Rs.60 per passengers, except for second class unreserved tickets there it is Rs.30.

✅ How much refund is given on surrendering unused unreserved ticket?

• If an unused unreserved ticket is presented for cancellation, full fafe is refunded after deducting the per passenger clerkage charge provided that the ticket is surrendered for cancellation to the station master.
  • Within 3 hours of issue of tickets.
  • In case tickets issued in advance, the ticket is presented upto 24 hours of the day preceding the day of journey.

• Train Tickets Current Booking Process