New Delhi: In what could be a special gift for the lakhs of railway passengers this New Year, the Indian Railways has decided to completely remove flexi fares from trains with less than 50 per cent occupancy.
The reduction of Flexi Fares is going to benefit both the passengers that can now avail tickets at cheaper rates, as well the Railways that will see a surge in demand and occupancy, Piyush Goyal had stated in a tweet.
As per reports, flexi fare scheme has been introduced in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains from September 9, 2016. Under this scheme, the fare increases by 10% with every 10% of berths sold subject to maximum limit of 1.5 times in classes Second AC, Sleeper, Second Sitting (reserved), AC Chair Car and 1.4 times in 3rd AC class.
Based on the feedback from different quarters, a committee was constituted to review the flexi fare scheme and based on certain recommendations of the committee, Flexi fare scheme in Rajdhani, Shatabdi & Duronto Trains has been rationalized as under:
Maximum cap of flexi fare scheme has been reduced to 1.4 times in all flexi fare applicable classes.
Graded discount has been introduced in flexi fare trains and Humsafar trains, where class-wise occupancy is less than 60%, 4 days prior to scheduled departure of the train as under:-
Occupancy and Discount:
Up to 70% - 20% on last fare
70 to 80% - 10% on last fare
Above 80% - Nil
The above changes will be implemented for the journey commencing on March 15, 2019 and onwards.