About Indian Railway Refund Rules

Looking to understand the Railway Refund Rules in detail? Whether you’re a frequent traveler or planning a one-time journey, knowing these policies can save you both time and money. Indian Railways has a well-defined set of Railway Refund Rules based on your ticket type—confirmed, RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation), or waitlisted.

For confirmed tickets, passengers are eligible for a refund if they cancel the ticket at least 2 hours before the scheduled departure of the train. The refund is usually processed and credited back to the original payment source within 5 to 7 working days.

In case of RAC or waitlisted tickets, the cancellation must be done a minimum of 3 hours before the train’s departure. Similar to confirmed bookings, the refund is processed within 5 to 7 business days.

The Indian Railways also applies cancellation charges based on the class of travel. As per the latest Railway Refund Rules, the charges are:

₹30 per passenger for Second Class

₹60 per passenger for Sleeper Class

₹90 per passenger for AC Chair Car

₹100 per passenger for First Class or higher

It is crucial to note that failing to cancel the ticket within the specified time window may result in no refund at all. Therefore, passengers should understand these Railway Refund Rules in advance to avoid any last-minute hassles.

Knowing the Railway Refund Rules helps travelers plan their journeys smoothly and make informed decisions when they need to modify or cancel their tickets.Stay updated with the latest refund policies on the official Indian Railways website or through the IRCTC app for a stress-free journey.

It is a query for all those who travel via Indian Railways about whether you can refund if you surrender your ticket for cancellation.

Time Limit for the Refund –

1. For confirmed reserved tickets, you can get your refund anytime before 2 hours of departure of the train.
2. For RAC/waitlisted tickets, you can opt for a refund within three hours the actual departure of the train.
3. For trains leaving between 21.00 hours and 06.00 hours, in that case, within two hours of opening of the Reservation Office, you can get a refund. This can be done if there are no counters available in the originating centre.

What Is Supposed To Be Done If The Due Date Of Refund Has Already Lapsed?

You can approach the Deputy Superintendent (commercial)/ Station Manager or Chief Reservation Supervisor. They can grant you refund up to 30 days of the date of journey.

If You Are Unable To Approach The Concerned Authorities, What Should You Do?

In that case, within 30 days of the date of travel, you must obtain a Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) from the nearest station and submit an application to the Chief Commercial Manager of the Zonal Railways. This should be done within 90 days of the scheduled travel. The case will be examined, and accordingly, a refund will be sent to you by Station Pay Order or Money Order or Crossed Cheque.

How Much Will Be Deduced As Cancellation Charge?

This depends on the time of cancellation and the status of your ticket.

• If you are cancelling your ticket more than 48 hours of scheduled time, then your amount of cancellation per person will be as follows –

Flat cancellation charges per passenger                  Class of your ticket

Rs. 120 AC First                                                                         Executive class

Rs. 100 AC-2tier                                                                        1st class

Rs. 90 AC-3tier                                                                            AC chair car,

AC-3                                                                                                   Economy

Rs. 60                                                                                                  Sleeper

Rs. 30                                                                                                   Second class

• If you cancel your ticket less than 48 hours to upto 6 hours before the scheduled departure time of the train, then you will have to pay a cancellation charge of 25% of the total fare paid.
• If you are cancelling the ticket between less than 6 hours to 2 hours of the scheduled time, then the cancellation charge will be 50% of the total fair of the ticket.
• If you want a refund for an RAC/Waitlisted ticket cancellation within upto 3 hours of the departure time of the train, then you will get a full refund of fare.
• You can get a refund of the full amount in case of a cancellation of the train due to accident, breaches or flood.
• You cannot get a refund for a lost ticket, but you can be allowed to travel after issuing a duplicate one.

Above are the Indian Railway refund rules and some queries you often face. Hope you make good use of it.

Want to know about Updated Refunds Rule in Indian Railways? If yes, go through the following information and you will be clear of all of them. As per the updated Railway refund rules, it all depends on the travellers and users status of travel whether they got RAC bookings, confirmed reservations, waitlisted bookings. For all confirmed booking users, if they cancel their tickets within 2 hours before the departure time of the train, they will get their refund credited in their account within 5 to 7 business working days.

For those users who have waitlisted status tickets or RAC status tickets, if they cancel the bookings within 3 hours before the departure time of the train, they will get the refund within 5 to 7 business working days credited in their account. Now comes the deduction of money that will depend on the class of travel in which you are travelling.

Just for the record, for second class AC, the deduction would be of Rs. 30 per passenger, for AC chair car the deduction would be of Rs. 90, for sleeper class the deduction will be of Rs. 60, for first class AC the deduction would be of Rs. 100. Always make sure to understand these rules and policies in advance, so you know how much amount you’ll get back in your account if you cancel your tickets for any reason. Safe travel!

Indian Railway Refund Rules

Do you have bookings made in trains from Indian Railways site and you are looking for the railways refund rules for the same devised by IRCTC? For the convenience of the passengers, Indian Railways have come up with liberalized and very friendly refund rules for them. To avail the maximum advantage and to save on the cancellation fares, it is always advisable to all passengers to cancel their tickets within the stipulated time frame whenever and wherever possible. It can also assist in getting all waitlisted or RAC passengers the confirmed accommodation.

1. For the untravelled unreserved tickets, if one cancels the same within 3 hours of the actual departure of the train, then Rs. 10 per passenger would be the cancellation charge.
2. For the untravelled reserved tickets, if one cancels in more than 24 hours in advance of the scheduled departure of the train, the cancellation charge would be Rs. 70 in AC first class per passenger, Rs. 60 per passenger in AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier, AC Chair Car and Rs. 40 per passenger in sleeper class, and Rs. 20 per passenger in unreserved second class coach.
3. For all untravelled RAC and waitlisted tickets, Rs. 20 per passenger would be deducted.

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