New Delhi / Pay 25-75% Less on Railway Ticket: Here’s All You Need to Know

Since September 1, Indian Railways has been levying a service charge of Rs 15 and Rs 30 for non-AC and AC classes respectively. Because of this, those booking tickets via the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website, are paying more for the same.

However, there is a scheme of Railways, which can help passengers pay less for their journey by giving them a concession of 25-75% on their tickets.

What is the scheme?

The said scheme of Railways offers concessions on ticket prices to 53 ‘categories’, some of which are students, farmers, the poor, patients, doctors, sportspersons, journalists, those preparing for government exams, specially-abled, senior citizens etc. Those accompanying patients and specially-abled, too, can avail concessions under this scheme.

The concession is applicable for general, AC First Class, AC Chair Car and AC Second Class tickets.

How to avail the concession?

In order to avail the concession, passengers will have to fill a form. A patient who wants concession will have to obtain a medical certificate from a doctor.

Some things to remember

• All concessions are calculated on the basis of fares for mail/express trains irrespective of the type of train
• A passenger can avail only one type of concession at a time
• For senior citizens, no age proof is required. However, the same might be needed during the journey
• Those with concession tickets cannot change it to a higher class even by paying the difference between actual fares
• The concession is not applicable for a journey the cost of which is being borne by the central or state government

Indian Railways is India’s national railway system operated by the Ministry of Railways. The fourth-largest railway network in the world by size. it runs more than 20,000 passenger trains daily. In the year ending March 18, it carried 8.26 billion passengers.