IRCTC, or Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, is the Indian Railways' e-ticketing arm, allowing travellers to order train tickets online via its website or mobile app. Passengers who reserve tickets are given a status, such as confirmed (full berth), waiting or wait-listed (WL), or RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation: Half Berth). The Indian Railways distributes RACs for railway reservations whenever all available seats on a train have been sold. When all RAC seats have been booked, waiting list tickets are made available.
RAC Ticket
Each train has a set of seats reserved for RAC-listed customers. The RAC status tickets guarantee customers a seat on the train but not a sleeping space. So, if you are a passenger with RAC status, you can enter the train and take your seat.
When the available RAC tickets are completely booked, then passengers get a waitlist status ticket. RAC simply implies that you will be assigned a seat on the train but will have to share it with someone else. If a person who already has a confirmed ticket cancels it, your RAC ticket might be converted to a confirmed ticket.
When will RAC tickets be available?
If all of the predetermined numbers of confirmed tickets are booked on the train, it will immediately begin booking into RAC (i.e., the train tickets are tagged as RAC).
RAC Confirmation Chances: RAC is already a confirmed rail ticket. The only difference is that you must accompany the other person on the same berth. If there is a last-minute cancellation or quota allotment is not sold, the RAC 1 ticket holder will be supplied with a separate berth. (i.e.) Confirmed ticket holders will receive a complimentary upgrade. The following RAC 2 and RAC 3 passengers will share the same cabin until the next confirmation cancellation.
Important Things To Know About RAC
- According to the IRCTC website - www.irctc.co.in - If the passenger status is RAC, the berth is divided into two seats for two RAC ticket holders.
- The person is permitted to board the train under RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation), and two passengers share the same berth.
- The status of the tickets may change for a variety of reasons. Other passengers' ticket cancellations might boost the likelihood of a RAC or waiting list ticket is confirmed. If RAC/WL tickets remain unused, they are also likely to be assigned to available seats in various quotas.
- According to IRCTC, if a confirmed passenger does not join the train, a whole berth is assigned to the person with a RAC ticket.
- A traveller can cancel a RAC online ticket up to 30 minutes before the train's planned departure time. According to IRCTC, no refunds are permitted after that point.
- If the reservation charts have been produced for an online RAC ticket, an online TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) must be completed in order to claim a refund.
Cancelling a RAC Ticket
Cancellation of an e-ticket with RAC status can be easily done with the help of train ticket booking apps like Trainman. No cash refund will be given for the cancellation. instead, the refund amount will be credited to the respective account holder electronically. The charge for cancelling a RAC/waitlisted ticket is Rs. 60/- (Per Passenger).
Travelling across the country is now easier than ever because of the complete digitization of the IRCTC ticketing procedure. Now, you can book train tickets online from the comfort of your home. And it’s not just the train tickets booking system that has been revolutionized.
All other services such as checking the PNR status, live train status, train schedule, and seat availability are easy-to-use with Trainman.. You only have to enter your IRCTC login credentials to book train tickets with ease.