Traveling has been an essential part of our life like any other activity. People travel in different ways under which trains act as the famous mode of transportation. Indian Railways provides IRCTC online ticket booking and cancellation; deduct a varied amount if you cancel ‘confirmed,’ ‘RAC,’ or ‘waiting’ train tickets. It also depends on the time range the customer chooses for the cancellation. Indian railways provide different berth categories, including AC First/Second/Third, AC chair car, sleeper class, and chair car.
Many online websites and applications help you with free cancellation policies like Railofy, the best platform for train services like travel guarantee, free cancellation, smart recommendation, and instant refunds.
You must be aware of certain rules and guidelines regarding your train ticket cancellation. These will be covered here in this write-up!
Rules for Charges: Train Get Canceled
If a train gets canceled, an e-Ticket refund will automatically be credited to the respective bank account in 3 to 7 days. In the case of a PRS Counter Ticket, a refund must be collected from the PRS counter. If your train is canceled due to unforeseen conditions like rail accidents or natural causes like breaches or floods, passengers get a full fare refund in these cases. To claim such a full refund, you must surrender your booked & confirmed ticket within 3 days of the predetermined train departure time.
General Rules for E-tickets
- E-tickets can be canceled using the official website & Railofy app only until the train chart is prepared.
- Cancellations were not allowed face-to-face at Railway counters.
- If a train is starting before 12 noon, then chart preparation will be done on the previous night
- If there is partial cancellation, take the fresh e-reservation slip, which got print separate from the original ticket
Confirmed Tickets: Passenger’s Cancellation and Refunds
- IRCTC cancels ticket charges for confirmed tickets (more than 48 hours in advance from scheduled departure)
AC First / executive class passengers: Cancellation charges of flat 240/- per passenger
AC 2-Tier/ first class – 200/-
AC 3-Tier/AC Chair car & AC-3 Economy: 180/-
Sleeper class cancellation charges Rs 120/-
For Second class tickets- the amount is 60/-
- If passengers cancel a confirmed ticket in less than 48 hours, before 12 hours from the train departure, 25% of the total fare will be the cancellation fee but do not exceed minimum flat cancellation charges.
- In case of fewer than 12 hours left, the cancellation charge will be 50% of the total fare but before 4 hours of train departure. Charges will not exceed flat cancellation charges.
- If a passenger opts for RAC/waitlisted ticket cancellation and presents half an hour before train departure, there is a full refund policy, but after reducing the clerkage.
For Tatkal Ticket Bookings
There will be no refunds granted on the cancellation of confirmed tatkal tickets. There will be charges imposed for contingent cancellation & waitlist tatkal tickets, and partial cancellation is allowed under railway rules.
Cancellation Charges for Waitlist Tickets
In the case of waitlist tickets, the ticket is canceled online up to four hours before the scheduled train departure. The refund will be made to the passenger’s account after deducting the cancellation charge of Rs. 30/- for 2S & other classes Rs. 60 + GST.
Also, for all passengers who remain on the waiting list after chart preparation, such tickets get automatically canceled. The full refunds will be credited to the accounts without deducting any cancellation charges.
Charges for Train Running Late
Passengers will get a full refund when the train is running more than three hours late and passengers having partially & fully confirmed tickets are unable to board the train on time. There are a few conditions imposed with the rule:-
- The train is running late from the passenger boarding station
- TDR is filed online by a passenger before the actual train departure for refunds
- All passengers booked on PNR have not traveled
If the request for a refund of fare is filed online after train departure, then no refunds will be granted.
Full Cancellation of Train (From originating station to destination station)
When the train gets fully canceled from the origin station to the destination, then full refunds are granted to passengers. The fare of confirmed e-tickets will be credited back to the account from which bookings have been done. Also, no need to fill out online cancellation or TDR filing.
Partial Cancellation of Train
Under the situation of partial train cancellation, train diversion, short termination, and others. TDR must be filed within 72 hours of scheduled train departure at boarding stations to get the refunds.
Process for E-tickets
Suppose you have booked an online E-ticket and canceled through the internet. The refund amount shall be reflected on the customer’s account after train authorities specify all the applicable charges.
An e-ticket can be canceled from the official website until the chart preparation. It is not allowed face-to-face at railway counters, and E-tickets cannot be canceled after chart preparation. Users need to use online TDR filing for a refund through a tracking service by IRCTC. If the ticket cancellation process is not started, or TDR is not filed online by the passenger up to 4 hours before train departure, no refund will be granted for cancellation. Also, the RAC e-ticket has no provision to cancel thirty minutes before the scheduled train departure, and no refund can be availed.
Use Railofy for Cancellation
In WhatsApp alerts, you can use a train services application like IRCTC Authorized Partner – Railofy to check train availability and PNR status. With IRCTC train booking using Railofy, passengers get free cancellations. Also, the app provides instant refunds of train fares to your accounts.