New Delhi:
Railway Ministry on Wednesday revised its refund rules comprehensively under which passengers will have to present their confirmed tickets at least 48 hours before the journey instead of existing 24 hours to get the maximum refund.
The new rules, which are aimed at facilitating early confirmation of wait-listed passengers, will come into effect from July 1. To get a refund with cancellation charges of 25 percent of the fare, passengers will now have to cancel their confirmed tickets within 48 hours and at least six hours before the train's departure against the existing four hours, the ministry said.
The existing window of time for the same amount of fare deduction is between 24 hours to four hours before the train's scheduled departure.
Railway is deducting a minimum per passenger cancellation charge at the flat rate of Rs 120 for AC first class/executive class, Rs 100 for AC-II tier/first class, Rs 90 for ACIII-tier, economy and chair car, Rs 60 for sleeper class and Rs 30 for second class.
If the ticket is presented for cancellation within six hours before the train's scheduled departure of the train and upto two hours after its actual departure, the cancellation charge would be 50 percent of the fare subject to a minimum of the charge.
The exiting rules, which are valid till June 30, allowed the cancellation of the tickets upto 12 hours after the train's departure if the distance was 500 km or more.
According to the new rules, no refund will be granted on the reserved ticket if it is surrendered for cancellation two hours after the train's actual departure.
