IRCTC Train Ticket cancellation rules, charges, refund: check new guidelines

IRCTC Train Ticket cancellation rules and charges: The e-Tickets can be cancelled till Chart preparation of the train. Cancellations are not allowed at face to face Railway Counters. If the user wishes to cancel his e-Ticket, he can do so till the time of chart preparation for the train. For train starting up to 12 noon the chart preparation is usually done on the previous night. He can log on to www.irctc.co.in and go to “Booked Tickets” link and select the ticket to be cancelled and can initiate the cancellation by selecting the passengers to be cancelled.

IRCTC confirmed ticket cancellation rules, charges and refund

If a confirmed ticket is cancelled more than 48 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train, flat cancellation charges shall be deducted @ Rs.240/- for AC First Class/Executive Class, Rs.200/- 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.

If a confirmed ticket is cancelled within 48 hrs and up to 12 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charges shall be 25% of the fare subject to the minimum flat rate mentioned in the above clause.

If a confirmed ticket is cancelled within less than 12 hours and upto four hours before the scheduled departure of the train up to chart preparation which is earlier, 50% of the fare is to be paid subject to the minimum cancellation charges.

• 48 hours to 12 hours: Refund after deducting 25% of the base fare subject to minimum flat cancellation charges
• 12 hours and up to 4 hours: Refund after deducting 50% of the base fare subject to the minimum flat cancellation charges
• After the train has departed: No refund

Cancellation of e-Tickets after the preparation of Reservation charts, RAC ticket cancellation charges & rules

For Normal User:- E-ticket cannot be cancelled after chart preparation. Users are requested to use the online TDR filing for such cases and track Status of the refund case through tracking service provided by IRCTC. TDR can be filed as per Railway rules:

• No refund of fare shall be admissible on the tickets having confirmed reservation in case the ticket is not cancelled or TDR not filed online upto 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 not filed online upto thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.
• In case, 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 also subject to the condition that the ticket shall be cancelled online or online TDR shall be filed for all the passengers upto thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.

IRCTC Train Tatkal Tickets Cancellation rules, charges and refund 

No refund will be granted on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal tickets. For contingent cancellation and waitlisted Tatkal ticket cancellations, charges will be deducted as per existing Railway rules. Partial cancellation of Tatkal e-tickets is allowed.

Please note that you will be granted a complete refund of your confirmed Tatkal tickets if you cancel it under any of the following circumstances:

• The train gets delayed by over 3 hours at the station where your journey is supposed to begin.
• The train is set to follow a diverted route which you don’t want to travel.
• The train is set to follow a diverted route and one or both of your source and destination stations do not fall on that route.
• The coach in which your Tatkal seat has been allotted is not attached to the train and you haven’t been provided a seat in the same class.
• You are provided a seat in a lower class in which you don’t want to travel. However, if you travel in the lower class, you will be provided a refund of the difference in the ticket price and Tatkal charges, if applicable.

IRCTC Premium Tatkal Ticket Cancellation rules, charges and refund

According to IRCTC refund rules, you are not entitled to any refund if you cancel your confirmed Premium Tatkal tickets. Under the PT quota, you cannot book RAC or Waitlisted tickets. You will get a complete refund for your confirmed Premium Tatkal tickets under the same circumstances as mentioned for Tatkal refund rules.

IRCTC Train Ticket Refund Rules for Partially Confirmed Party or Family Tickets

Suppose that you have a family e-Ticket or a party e-Ticket in which some of the seats are confirmed while some others are on the Waitlist or RAC. In this case, even the confirmed passengers can get a refund if they choose not to travel, subject to applicable cancellation charges. Further, to avail the refund, you will have to cancel the ticket online or file for TDR online at least 30 minutes before the train is set to depart from the station. These refund rules are applicable for both general quota and Tatkal quota e-Tickets.

In the same scenario, if you have a counter ticket instead of an e-Ticket, you can claim a refund by surrendering your counter ticket up to 30 minutes before the departure of the train.

In the same scenario, if the confirmed passengers on an e-Ticket decide to travel while the RAC or Waitlisted passengers decided not to travel, you need to get a certificate stating this from the railway ticket checking staff. You can get a refund based on this certificate provided that you file an online TDR within 72 hours of the train reaching your destination station. You will also have to send the certificate to IRCTC by post.

IRCTC Waiting list Tickets cancellation charges and refund

If you cancel your Waitlisted e-Tickets up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train, you will get a refund after deducting a cancellation fee of ₹ 60 + GST per passenger.

As per IRCTC refund rules, if you have a Waitlisted e-Ticket (GNWL, RLWL, or PQWL) and its status remains the same even after the chart has been made, you will be refunded the fare automatically by IRCTC after deducting applicable fees.

In the case of Waitlisted counter tickets, you can get it cancelled at a PRS counter or IRCTC website up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train and receive a refund from the counter.

If you have a Waitlisted ticket which is confirmed at the time of cancellation, the refund rules for confirmed tickets will be applicable.

IRCTC Refund Rules for Cancelled Trains

If the train is marked as “CANCELLED” in PRS due to breaches, floods, accidents etc. full refund is permissible in case the ticket is cancelled within three days of the scheduled departure of the train. In case of e-tickets, such cancellations can be done by the customer via IRCTC website.

• e-Tickets: If your train is cancelled due to any reason, you are entitled to a full refund of your e-Ticket fare whether you have confirmed, Waitlisted or RAC tickets. Passengers with e-Tickets will get the refund credited to the account that they had used for booking. You need not cancel your e-Ticket or file a TDR in such cases because the ticket will be automatically cancelled.
• Counter Tickets: If you have a counter ticket, you can collect your refund from a PRS counter. However, you must cancel your ticket at any PRS counter within 72 hours after the scheduled departure of the train.

IRCTC Refund Rules for Diverted Trains

If your train is diverted from its specified route and you don’t want to travel via the new route, you can get a full refund of your ticket fare. For this, you must file a TDR up to 72 hours of the train’s departure schedule from the station where you are supposed to board.

IRCTC Refund Rules for Train Running Behind Schedule by More Than 3 Hours

If the train arrives at your boarding station 3 hours or more behind its schedule, you can get a full refund of your e-Tickets. But make sure to file a TDR online before the train’s actual departure time to ensure a full refund.

Passengers with counter tickets can hand over the ticket to the railway officials at the station where your journey was to begin and obtain a full refund from the counter.
No refund is admissible if you cancel, surrender your tickets or file a TDR after the actual departure of the train.

IRCTC Train Ticket cancellation: IRCTC Refund Rules for Unreserved Tickets

If you have an unreserved ticket and want to cancel it, you can present the ticket to the station master within 3 hours of its issuance and get a refund subject to a clerkage charge of ₹ 30 per passenger.

In the event that your unreserved ticket has been issued in advance, you can get a refund by presenting it to the station master up to 24 hours prior to the date of journey. The clerkage charge will remain the same.

Railway Refund Rules for Counter Tickets

If you cancel the ticket through a PRS counter: Refund for counter tickets cancelled through a PRS counter can be collected from the counter itself, subject to the deduction of cancellation fees.

If you cancel the ticket online through IRCTC: In the event of online cancellation of counter tickets, you can collect the refund at the station from where you were supposed to board the train or from one of the neighboring satellite locations of PRS within a prescribed time limit. You must surrender your original ticket in order to collect the refund.

How to cancel IRCTC train ticket?

You can cancel your train ticket by visiting the official website of IRCTC – https://www.irctc.co.in/. After login, click on my bookings and cancel the train ticket you want to.

IRCTC Refund for Failed Transactions

During e-Ticket booking through IRCTC website or mobile app, if the amount was debited from your bank account but the ticket was not booked successfully, then the entire amount (except for the transaction charges for bank/cards) will be refunded to you by IRCTC.