As per IRCTC, approximately Rs 26 lakh has been distributed as compensation under the train delay refund scheme from October 4, 2019, to February 16, 2024.
New Delhi: In response to an RTI, the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has said that it stopped its refund compensation scheme for private train delays five years ago. The Right to Information (RTI) query was filed by news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). It is important to note that the IRCTC did not disclose any specific reason for this change, citing confidentiality.
Notably, this new policy will apply only to private train ticket bookings and not to government trains. This means if a passenger wants to claim a refund on their government train ticket bookings, they can still do so. Currently, the Indian Railways is operating two private trains called Tejas.
One Tejas operates from New Delhi to Lucknow, which began on October 4, 2019. The second Tejas train operates between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, which began on January 17, 2020. IRCTC along with managing catering, tourism, and ticketing services for the railways, is also responsible for the operation of private trains.
IRCTC Compensation Plan:
- If the train is late by 1 to 2 hours, a compensation of Rs 100 is provided.
- If the delay is 2 to 4 hours, then the compensation is Rs 250.
- If a passenger cancels the ticket because of a train delay, the customer is entitled to a full fare refund with complimentary water and food services.
Here are some of the key details:
As per IRCTC, approximately Rs 26 lakh has been distributed as compensation under the train delay refund scheme from October 4, 2019, to February 16, 2024.
In the financial year 2023-24, passengers have received a compensation of Rs 15.65 lakh.
The compensation policy was initially launched as a strategy to encourage more customers to book private train tickets. Over the years, compensation payouts varied significantly: Rs 1.78 lakh in 2019-20, none in 2020-21, Rs 96,000 in 2021-22, Rs 7.74 lakh in 2022-23, and Rs 15.65 lakh in 2023-24.
