New Delhi, March 24 (IANS). Indian Railways has changed the rules for cancellation of confirmed tickets so that black marketing of tickets by brokers can be stopped. Under the new rules, passengers have been given more facilities in some cases, especially regarding changing the boarding station at the last moment.
According to the revised rules, the refund given on ticket cancellation will now be decided on the basis of time left before the departure of the train. Besides, passengers have also been given the facility to change the boarding station, which will give them more flexibility.
These new rules will be implemented in a phased manner between April 1 and April 15, 2026.
Under the new rules, if a passenger cancels the ticket 72 hours before the departure of the train, he will get the maximum refund and only a fixed cancellation charge will be deducted.
If the ticket is canceled between 72 hours to 24 hours, 25 percent of the fare will be deducted (minus the minimum charge).
If the ticket is canceled 24 hours to 8 hours before, 50 percent of the fare will be deducted. However, if the ticket is canceled less than 8 hours before the departure of the train, no refund will be given.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that some brokers used to book more tickets in advance and those tickets which were not sold, were canceled before the train time, due to which they got more money back. The new rules will help stop such activities.
Apart from this, Railways has also given the facility to the passengers that they can change their boarding station up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train. This will especially benefit the passengers living in big cities, where there is more than one railway station.
At present, the facility to change the boarding station is available only before the chart is prepared, but after the new rule, passengers will get more facilities.
–IANS
DBP
