Relaxed Refund Rules

In order to provide a hassle-free refund of tickets due to cancellation of the trains in the wake of coronavirus, Indian Railways has relaxed the refund rules for PRS counter generated tickets. Let us have a look at the relaxed refund rules on the train tickets.

• The cancellation rules on the e-tickets remain the same and passengers do not need to come to the station to get the refund for the e-tickets. Cancellation of the e-tickets can be done via online mode only. For fully cancelled trains, passengers having e-ticket don’t need to cancel their ticket. Their ticket will get automatically cancelled and the refund would be credited within 8-10 working days.

• Travellers must note that IRCTC service charges are non-refundable under any circumstances. In the case of train cancellation, passengers would not get the refund of the IRCTC service charges on both e-tickets and PRS counter generated tickets.

• Relaxation in the cancellation rules is applicable only to the PRS counter generated tickets. The relaxation period is for 3 months i.e from March 21 to June 21, 2020. For all the trains that are cancelled till March 31, Indian Railways would provide full refund for the same till June 21, 2020. Passengers can avail the refund for the cancelled train upto 3 months from the date of journey. Earlier the time limit was 3 days / 72 hours.

  

• When train is not cancelled and passenger does not want to travel:

1. TDR (ticket deposit receipt) can be filed within a period of three months from the date of journey at the railway station. Instead of the usual extant rule of three days, passengers are given a relaxation of 3 months.

2. Passengers can submit the TDR to CCO (Chief claims officer) or CCM (Chief commercial manager) and avail the refund within a period of 60 days of filing the TDR, subject to the verification from the train chart. In place of the usual extant rule of 10 days, relaxation has been provided of 60 days.

• Passengers who want to cancel their ticket through the helpline number of Indian Railways (139) can get the refund within 3 months from date of the journey. In this, passengers will be given a one-time password on their mobile.

Indian Railways has suspended all its trains till March 31 to prevent the spread of coronavirus outbreak. No passenger trains would be operating till March 31 and trains which are still on the run will be terminated at their destination station. The total number of coronavirus cases in India has reached to 415 today with 8 deaths. Yesterday, the country witnessed the biggest single-day jump as the number of new cases that were reported in a single day were 81. The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare under the central government has launched two national helpline number: 1075 and 1800-112-545 (24*7) for coronavirus inquiry and support. To get more clarity on ticket cancellation and refund rules you can contact railways helpline number 139. Additionally, the states and union territories have also provided a separate helpline number for coronavirus related query.

Stay safe, stay alert! Stay tuned to the Trainman blog to get the latest updates on train and travel. Trainman team advises all its travellers to avoid non-essential travel and maintain social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.