Under Indian Railways’ flagship “52 Reforms in 52 Weeks” initiative, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced an important reform – rules for cancellation of tickets and refund, along with change of train boarding point, salt transportation, automobile transportation, and improving quality of construction.
Addressing a press conference here on Reforms in Railways, the Railway Minister, while elaborating about the new reform – cancellation of tickets and refund rules, said, “This enables passengers to plan their travel efficiently.”
Indian Railways has revised its rules for the cancellation of confirmed tickets to check misuse of the booking system by touts who indulge in black marketing. Under the revised system, passengers cancelling tickets more than 72 hours before departure will receive the maximum refund, with only a flat cancellation charge per passenger. For cancellations made between 72 hours and 24 hours, 25 percent of the fare will be deducted, subject to the minimum charge.
The penalty increases for late cancellations. If a ticket is cancelled between 24 hours and 8 hours before departure, 50 per cent of the fare will be deducted, subject to the minimum charge. For cancellations made less than 8 hours before departure, no refund will be permitted.
“According to an assessment of ticketing patterns, touts would book extra tickets and cancel unsold ones before train departure times, gaining significant booking amounts back as refunds,” Vaishnaw said.
He added that the decision to tighten the norms for refunds is expected to curb cornering of tickets by touts.
“Travel class upgradation allowed up to 30 minutes before departure for counter tickets. Previously, passengers could upgrade travel class only before charting. This will provide more options for comfortable travel to passengers right till the last moment,” Vaishnaw said.
The revised rules will come into effect in phases between April 1 and April 15, 2026.
Indian Railways has also allowed passengers to change their boarding station up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train. The change is expected to help passengers in cities with multiple stations, where they can choose to board from a station of their convenience.
“Freedom for passengers to change their boarding point 30 minutes before scheduled departure of the train. Especially useful in major cities with multiple stations, where a passenger can opt to board from any of those stations. Currently, change of boarding point is allowed before preparation of the chart,” the Railway Minister said.
He also announced Reform in Salt Transportation, Reform in Automobile Transportation and Improving Quality of Construction during the press conference.
On Reform in Automobile Transportation, the Railway Minister mentioned about introduction of specialized wagons for auto carriers–Single stack and Double stack
“Single stack and double stack wagons have been introduced for auto carriers,” he said.
Elaborating on Reform 7: Improving Quality of Construction, Vaishnaw stated that a clause of 20 per cent ‘similar nature of work’ has been introduced in EPC contracts to ensure specific rail expertise.
He said there would be fixed bid security of two percent to ensure only serious bidders in the bidding process.
The Minister further said bid capacity will be calculated for all projects above Rs 10 crore.