Indian Railways have cancelled all tickets booked for travel on or before 30th June in regular passenger trains. Railways have said that the operation of labour and special trains will continue. All tickets booked till 30th June 2020 have been refunded to the passengers.
A day after the Indian Railways suspended passenger trains till further notice, the national transporter also revised the guidelines for cancellation of tickets and refund of fares due to COVID-19.
The relaxations were made in provision of refund rules for PRS counter generated tickets/ e-tickets, (already booked) as a special case, for journey starting with effect from March 21 till resumption of passengers services or till further orders, Northeast Frontier Railway spokesperson Subhanan Chanda said in a press note.
According to the revised guidelines, for trains cancelled by railways, passengers who booked tickets in PRS counter can apply for refunds within six months from the date of journey (instead of 3 days excluding days of journey). E-tickets will be automatically refunded.
If train is not cancelled but passenger does not want travel, the Indian Railways will return the full amount of the reserved tickets as a special case in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. This will be applicable for both PRS counter generated tickets and e-tickets.
For trains not cancelled by the railways, passenger with PRS counter tickets can file TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) within six months from day of journey (instead of 3 days) at the station and submit the detailed TDR within next 60 days (instead of 10 days) to Chief Claims Officer/ CCM Refund’s office for getting the refund amount. The refund will be adjusted after verification.
For E-tickets, online cancellations and refund facility is available. Passengers can also cancel PRS counter tickets through 139 or through the website of IRCTC and get refund across the counter within six months from date of journey.
For those who have already cancelled their PRS counter tickets for journey period starting from March 21, refund of balance amount of cancellation charges can be claimed by submitting an application addressed to the offices of chief claim officers (CCO) or chief commercial manager/ refund (CCM-Refund) of concerned zonal railway head quarters through post in the prescribed format within 6 months of scheduled date of journey.
For passengers who booked E-tickets and cancelled the same, balance cancelation charge so deducted will be credited automatically to the account of the passenger from which the ticket was booked.