Railways slashes refunds for last-minute ticket cancellations: Know new rules

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): If you also travel by train often, then this news is very important for you. To strictly control the black marketing of tickets, Indian Railways has made a big and important change in the rules of ticket cancellation and refund. After the implementation of the new rules, now the passengers will not get almost the full refund on cancellation of tickets as before. Railways has now closely linked the refund amount with the cancellation deadline. The main objective of this step is to stop the arbitrariness of ticket brokers, so that common and needy passengers can easily get confirmed tickets.

No refund will be given if the ticket is cancelled 8 hours before the date of booking

According to new rules set by the Railways, refunds will be significantly reduced based on the time of ticket cancellation. Passengers canceling their tickets eight hours before the train's scheduled departure time will receive no refund. However, passengers canceling tickets between 24 and eight hours before departure will receive only 50 percent of the ticket amount. Furthermore, passengers canceling within 72 hours of departure will receive up to a 75 percent refund. Previously, passengers canceling tickets within 72 hours or earlier received almost their full refund. These new, stricter rules will be fully implemented between April 1 and April 15.

Now you can easily cancel your ticket from any station

Along with these strict refund rules, the Railways has also introduced some excellent features for passenger convenience. Under the new provisions, passengers will now be able to easily cancel their railway tickets offline from any station in the country. They will no longer be restricted to the station where they booked their tickets. Furthermore, passengers will now be given the special option to board trains from any station along the route, in addition to their designated departure station. This will allow for a new and easy option to update the boarding station in the mobile app, making travel more convenient than ever.

You can change your class and coach 30 minutes before the journey

The Railways has taken another major decision to make the travel experience of its passengers more flexible and luxurious. Under this new feature, passengers will now be able to update or upgrade their seats just before the journey begins. Passengers will be given the option to change their coach and class of travel up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time of the train. This simply means that if passengers wish, they will be able to upgrade their 3rd AC ticket to 1st AC at the last moment. The main aim of all these new features of the Railways is to provide passengers with more comfort during their travel and a world-class travel experience.