More than 90% travelers want Railways to refund 50% amount of their Tatkal ticket: Survey

More than 90 per cent passengers travelling from Indian Railways want 50 per cent of the amount to be refunded if the tatkal tickets would be cancelled six hours prior to journey. 

A survey conducted by social engagement platform Local Circles in relation to the amendment to the Packaged Commodity Rules 2017,consisted of two polls and received more than 65,000 votes.

According to the survey, out of the 20,601 passengers, 94 per cent passengers feel that railways should refund 50 per cent of the Tatkal ticket cancellation amount. 

“Out of the 7,873 votes, 61 per cent citizens want the flexi fare to continue but also want lower fares when trains are empty while 29 per cent people want flexi fare to be abolished and base fare increased,” the survey said.

The Tatkal bookings in railways starts one day in advance but it does not include the day of the journey. For example, if a journey has to be taken on third of the month, then the bookings would open at 10 AM on the second of the month.

The day of journey is defined as the day of chart preparation.

Following are some of the rules by railways for tatkal scheme

1. The facility of change of name is not permitted under the tatkal scheme.

2. According to Tatkal rules, only four passengers are allowed to travel per Tatkal ticket. However, one can book two Tatkal tickets per user id in ticket classes except first AC and executive class.

3. You can cancel your waiting list or RAC Tatkal tickets, up to 30 minutes before the departure of the train. Earlier, cancellation of waiting list/RAC was allowed 24 hours prior to the departure. But now it is possible quite near to the departure. If wait listed Tatkal tickets do not get confirmed or RAC, they automatically get cancelled and the passenger gets refund.

Confirmed tickets do not get refund upon cancellation. In case of RAC or waitlisted tickets refund is available if the same are cancelled up to 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure.

4. In case a train is running behind 3 hours or gets cancelled by railway authorities, you are entitled to file Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) for claiming a refund.

5. Passengers can book tatkal tickets using options like ePaylater or Pay-on-Delivery. The former lets you to book tickets first and pay later. You get a payment link through email and SMS on making your booking and up to 14 days to make the payment. However, this facility comes with an additional small charge of 3.50 per cent