In a significant move, the Railways has issued amended cancellation guidelines for confirmed tickets, altering how refunds are computed based on the timing of cancellations.
New cancellation rules for confirmed tickets
Under the revised framework, cancellation timelines have been extended in line with updated chart preparation timings. The earlier cancellation windows of 48, 12, and 4 hours have now been revised to 72, 24, and 8 hours before departure.
Passengers cancelling tickets more than 72 hours before departure will receive maximum refunds with minimal charges. Cancellations between 72 and 24 hours will attract a standard penalty of around 25% of the fare, while cancellations between 24 and 8 hours will lead to a higher deduction of about 50%.
No refunds will be provided for cancellations made within 8 hours of departure.
These changes come after the railways advanced chart preparation from 4 hours to a window of 9–18 hours before departure, allowing passengers more time to plan their journeys.
Simplified refund process
The refund system has also been significantly streamlined. Earlier, passengers had to cancel tickets at the terminating station to claim refunds. Now, cancellations can be made at any railway counter across the country, making the process more flexible.
For e-ticket users, the process has been further simplified. Previously, passengers were required to file a Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) online to claim refunds in certain cases.
Under the new system, this requirement has been eliminated, and refunds will now be processed automatically without any additional action from passengers.
Changes in boarding and upgradation rules
Indian Railways has also relaxed rules related to travel class upgradation. Passengers with counter tickets can now upgrade their travel class up to 30 minutes before departure. Earlier, such upgrades were only allowed before chart preparation.
This move is expected to provide passengers with more flexibility and better chances of securing comfortable travel options, even at the last minute.
Measures to curb ticket hoarding and improve booking
To tackle issues of ticket hoarding by agents and touts, especially during Tatkal bookings, several changes have been introduced. These include Aadhaar-based OTP authentication, restrictions on bookings during the initial 30 minutes, and deployment of anti-bot systems to filter out non-genuine users.
According to a press statement, over three crore suspicious user IDs have been deactivated as part of the effort.
