The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the online ticketing arm of Indian Railways offers facility to book as well as cancel train tickets. It also offers refund for train tickets but under certain terms and conditions.
As per the IRCTC norms, the cancellation for a confirmed railway ticket cannot be done at a railway station in offline mode. The customer has to apply online through the IRCTC's booking portal or mobile app. The charts of the trains that start from their original destination till 12 noon are made the night before. Therefore a customer has to apply for cancellation about 12 or more hours before the train leaves its original destination. The cancellation charges depend on how many hours before a customer cancels his ticket and what type of ticket he cancels.
Steps to apply for cancellation of an online IRCTC ticket before preparation of chart:
- The user can log on to www.irctc.co.in and then go to "Booked Tickets" link and select the ticket to be cancelled
- A cancellation can be initiated by selecting the passengers.
- Once the cancellation is confirmed online, the refund will be credited back to the same account used by the customer during booking the ticket.
- In case of partial cancellation of ticket, the customer should ensure that a fresh e-reservation slip (Electronic Reservation Slip) is printed separately as done for the original ticket.
Cancellation of e-Tickets before chart preparation of the train:
If a confirmed ticket is cancelled more than 48 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, flat cancellation charges of Rs 240 will be deducted for AC First Class/Executive Class. Similarly, Rs 200 will be deducted for AC 2 Tier/First Class, Rs 180 for AC 3 Tier/AC Chair car/ AC 3 Economy, Rs 120 for Sleeper Class and Rs 60 for Second Class.
Cancellation of e-Tickets about 48 hours before departure of train:
If a confirmed train ticket is cancelled within 48 hours and up to 12 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charges of 25% will be applicable. The amount is subject to the minimum flat rate mentioned in the above clause.
Similarly, if a ticket is cancelled less than 12 hours and up to four hours before the scheduled departure of the train up to chart preparation which is earlier, 50% of the fare paid subject to the minimum cancellation charges is applicable.
Cancellation of e-Tickets after preparation of Reservation charts:
If a train ticket is cancelled after the chart has been prepared, the customer will have to avail the TDR option given on the IRCTC website and file a TDR (ticket deposit receipt) for their ticket.
IRCTC rules for cancellation of e-tickets through TDR:
- No refund of fare shall be admissible on the tickets having confirmed reservation in case the ticket is not cancelled or TDR is not filed online up to four hours before the scheduled departure of the train.
- No refund of fare shall be admissible on RAC e-tickets is case the ticket is not cancelled or TDR is not filed online up to thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.
- In case of on a party e-ticket or a family e-ticket issued for travel of more than one passenger, some passengers have confirmed reservation and others are on RAC or waiting list, full refund of fare, less clerkage, shall be admissible for confirmed passengers. However, the ticket shall be cancelled online or online TDR shall be filed for all the passengers up to thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.
Steps to file online TDR:
IRCTC forwards the TDR case to concerned Zonal Railway on the basis of request of the customer.
For filing online TDR, the user is required to log in to the IRCTC portal and select "File Ticket Deposit Receipt" under the "services" section.
Once the TDR is filed, IRCTC forwards the claim to concerned railway zones to process the refund. Once the refund claim is admitted, the amount is credited back to the same account used by the customer to make payment while booking tickets.