Indian Railways Refund Circular, Regular Trains Cancelled Till August

Indian Railways has decided to refund the full booking amount of all tickets booked until April 14 for all regular trains. Railways have indicated that regular passenger train services will not be restarted before August.

Due to Covid-19, regular trains have been cancelled for almost three months. The situation is unlikely to return to normal at the moment. Amid the coronavirus infection, everyone wants to know when railway facilities will resume in the country but, it may take a long time until passenger trains restart.

Indian Railways has indicated that it is not possible to operate regular passenger train services until August. Railways are currently running 230 special trains. At the same time, the Railway Ministry has reiterated that if demand increases then more special trains can be operated.

Also Read: Indian Railways Will Convert Many Passenger Trains into Express Trains

Railways Have Cancelled All Tickets Booked on or Before April 14

The Railway Ministry issued a circular to all Railway zones on Monday informing them of the decision to cancel all tickets booked on or before April 14 and generate a full refund of tickets.

Railways had allowed booking of tickets for 120 days. As per the current rules, passengers are not required to cancel tickets if the railway cancels the trains. The automatic return process will begin in their bank account.

Refund for Trains Cancelled by Indian Railways

Passengers can apply for a refund on PRS counter ticket of up to 6 months from the date of travel. The e-ticket will be returned automatically by Indian Railways.

Refund on Cancelling Your Ticket

If the train is not cancelled, but the passenger does not want to travel, the Indian Railways will refund the full amount of the reserved tickets as a special case given the coronavirus epidemic. This rule will apply to both PRS counter generated tickets and e-tickets.

Also Read: IRCTC Ticket Cancellation and Refund Rules 2020

Railways Earnings Has Decreased by 58%

Railway sources have said that because of the cancellation of trains, the railway’s earnings have come down by 58 per cent. As soon as the earnings dropped, the railways started cutting their expenses.

Also, the railway has ordered a reduction in stationery expenses. In the order issued to all railway zones, most of the office work has been told to be digital instead of paper and files. Only essential stationery items are asked to be purchased. It has also been asked to reduce unnecessary expenses from railway zones.

Now, it’s tough to say when normal operations of Indian Railways will start. As the Unlock 1 is coming to an end on June 30 peoples are waiting for the normal situations.

Many passengers are still not willing to travel in this pandemic due to which many special trains are running with vacant seats on different parts of the country.