Railway Tickets Refund Rules - Indian Railways

UNUSED TICKETS ON WHICH NO RESERVATION HAS BEEN MADE :
If a ticket on which no reservation of a seat or berth has been made is presented for cancellation within three hours after the actual departure of the train for which the ticket is issued or for any ticket valid for the whole day, within three hours after the actual departure of the last train of the day for the destination station, refund of fare shall be made on every such ticket after deducting Rs. 10/- per passenger as clerkage.
UNUSED TICKETS ON WHICH RESERVATION HAS BEEN MADE :
(1) Subject to the provision of these rules, if a ticket on which reservation of a seat or berth has been made, is presented for cancellation, refund of fare shall be made after deducting cancellation charge from the fare as follows : (a) If a ticket is presented for cancellation more than 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train cancellation charge shall be deducted at the flat rate of Rs. 70/- for A.C First Class/Executive Class, Rs. 60/- for A.C. 2 Tier sleeper class/ A.C. 3 Tier sleeper class/ First class/A.C Chair Car, Rs. 40/- for Sleeper class and Rs. 20/- for Second class. (b) If the ticket is presented for cancellation within 24 hours and up to four hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charges shall be 25% of the fare subject to the min. flat rate mentioned in clause (a). (c) If the ticket is presented for cancellation within four hours before the scheduled departure of the train and up to : Three hours, when the ticket is for a destination station up to 200 KM., Six hours, when the ticket is for a destination station of more than 200 KM but up to 500 KM., and Twelve hours , when the ticket is for a destination station of more than 500 KM., after the actual departure of the train, cancellation charges shall be 50 % of the fare subject to the min. flat rate mentioned in clause (a). Provided that for night train leaving between 21:00 hours and 06:00 hours (actual departures), refunds shall be admissible at the station within the time limit specified above or within four hours after the opening of reservation office, whichever is later. (2) No refunds shall be granted at the station if the ticket is surrendered for cancellation after the expiry of the period mentioned under clause (c) of sub rule (1). Note: (1) In the case of tickets issued for travel from some other stations refunds shall be admissible at the ticket issuing station provided that the ticket is surrendered before the schedule departure of the train from the station from where the ticket is valid. (2) On a party/family ticket issued for more than one person, where some persons have confirmed reservations and others are on waiting list, full refund less clerkage charges is admissible for confirmed passengers provided that the entire ticket is surrendered for cancellation at the journey commencing station within four hours before the scheduled departure of the train and up to three hours after actual departure of the train.
UNUSED WAIT LISTED OR RAC TICKETS :
(1A) Subject to provisions of subrule (2), no cancellation charges shall be payable if a wait-listed or RAC ticket is presented for cancellation up to : (i) Three hours, when the ticket is for a destination station up to 200 KM. (ii) Six hours, when the ticket is for a destination station of more than 200 KM but up to 500 KM., and (iii) Twelve hours , when the ticket is for a destination station of more than 500 KM., after the actual departure of the train except for a deduction of a clerkage charge of Rs. 20/- per passenger. Provided that for night train leaving between 21:00 hours and 06:00 hours (actual departures), refunds shall be admissible at the station within the time limit specified above or within four hours of opening of the reservation office, whichever is later. (2A) Where confirmed reservation has been provided to RAC or wait-listed ticket holder at any time up to the final preparation of reservation chart, such ticket shall be treated as a reserved ticket and cancellation charges shall be payable in accordance with rules mentioned above.
CANCELLATION CHARGES ON MULTIPLE JOURNEY TICKETS :
With effect from 1st March 2000, when an unused ticket involving more than one journey is surrendered for cancellation, the entire ticket shall be treated as one single journey ticket and refund of fare of entire ticket shall be granted as per rules (1) and (2) above, according to the reservation status of the first lap of journey, i.e. if reservation status of first lap of journey is confirmed, refund shall be granted in accordance with the rule (1) and (2) above and if the reservation status of first lap of journey is RAC/Wait-list, refund shall be granted in accordance with the rule (1A) and (2A) above. The cancellation charges or clerkage charge as the case may be, shall be levied only once on the entire amount of the ticket, irrespective of the reservation status of different laps of journey, and not separately for each lap of journey.
REFUND ON PARTIALLY USED TICKETS :
For partially used tickets where a passenger terminates his journey enroute, a ticket deposit receipt shall be issued by the station master and the ticket holder may apply for refund to the chief commercial manager (Refunds) of the concerned railway.
REFUND DUE TO LATE RUNNING OF TRAINS :
No cancellation charge or clerkage shall be levied and full fare shall be refundable to all passengers holding Reserved, RAC, and Waitlisted tickets, if the journey is not undertaken due to late running of the train by more than 3 hours of the scheduled departure of the train from the journey commencing station provided that the ticket is surrendered upto the maximum time limits prescribed in clause (c) of sub-rule (1) of rule 6 .Which is given below: Full refund will be permitted even after the departure of train in the event of train running more than 3 hours late and that the time limits will be up to 3 hours if the distance of the ticket is up to 200Kms., up to 6 hours if the distance of the ticket is 201-500 Kms. and up to 12 hours after the departure of the train if the distance of the ticket is more than 500 Kms.
REFUND OF TICKETS WHERE RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION IS UNABLE TO PROVIDE ACCOMMODATION :
Full refund of fares shall be granted in case the railway administration is not able to provide accommodation for any reason whatsoever to passengers holding reserved tickets, provided such tickets are cancelled within three hours of the actual departure of the trains. In case a train is cancelled due to accidents, breaches or floods, the full refund of fare is granted within three days excluding the scheduled day of departure of the train.
REFUND IN CASE OF FAILURE OF AIR-CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT :
When the air-conditioning has not worked for a portion of the journey, the ref und for such portion of the journey is granted at the destination of the train on production of a certificate of the conductor /guard , if the ticket is presented within twenty hours of the arrival of the train as follows: In case of AC first class, the difference between the AC first class fare and first class mail fare. In case of AC 2 tier sleeper/AC 3 tier sleeper class, the difference between the AC 2 tier/AC 3 tier fare and the sleeper class mail /express fare. In case of AC chair car class the difference between the AC chair car class and second class mail/express fare. In case of Executive class ticket of Shatabdi trains, the difference between the notified executive class fare for the concerned section and first class mail/express fare for the concerned distance of that section.
REFUND IN CASE PASSENGERS ARE MADE TO TRAVEL IN A LOWER CLASS FOR WANT OF ACCOMMODATION :
If a ticket holder of higher class is made to travel in a lower class for want of accommodation in the class for which the ticket was issued, refund of difference between the fare paid and fare payable shall be granted at the destination station or the originating station as the case may be. The refund at the destination shall be granted only on the production of a certificate from the conductor/.guard/TTE and the ticket is presented within 2days of the date of issue of the certificate (excluding date of issue) of the arrival of the train at your destination To claim this refund passenger will have to submit ticket along with the certificate issued by te Traveling Ticket Examiner.
REFUND ON LOST/ MISPLACED TICKETS :
No refund is permissible against lost/misplaced tickets. However passenger will be allowed to travel on the reservation already made on confirmed one or RAC .If the loss of confirmed/RAC ticket is reported before the preparation of the reservation chart, duplicate ticket will be issued on the collection of the clerkage charge per passenger. If the loss of confirmed/RAC ticket is reported after the preparation of the reservation chart, duplicate ticket will be issued on the collection of the 50% of the fare . No duplicate ticket will be issued after the preparation of reservation chart in case of RAC ticket . Loss of tickets be reported to railways immediately to prevent fraudulent refunds on lost tickets.
ISSUE OF DUPLICATE TICKET IN LIEU OF TORN/MUTILATED TICKETS :
Duplicate ticket can be issued only in case of torn/mutilated confirmed/RAC tickets. The duplicate ticket can be issued against torn/mutilated ticket if it is reported to the railway and the passenger can travel on the accommodation reserved by him, by making payment and getting a duplicate ticket as per following table : A) Before the chart preparation Under this rule the duplicate ticket (in lieu of lost/misplaced/torn/mutilated/reserved/RAC tickets) will be issued  before the preparation of the reservation chart, duplicate ticket will be issued on the collection of the clerkage charge per passenger.If the loss of confirmed/RAC ticket is reported after the preparation of the reservation chart, duplicate ticket will be issued on the collection of the 50% of the fare Refund on torn/mutilated ticket is admissible on torn/mutilated if its genuineness and authenticity are verified on the basis of of particulars visible on the face of such ticket .subject to the deduction of cancellation charges as per rules, provided that the authenticity of such a ticket is verified at the station on the basis of particulars visible on the face of ticket. NOTE : 1) No duplicate ticket against lost RAC ticket is permitted after the chart preparation. 2) No duplicate ticket is issued against Wait List lost/torn/mutilated tickets.
REFUND OF DUPLICATE TICKET :
If lost tickets are traced and presented along with the duplicate ticket before the departure of the train, refund is permitted for the duplicate ticket after deduction of 5% of the charges paid subject to a min. of Rs. 20/-. Thereafter, original ticket becomes valid for travel as well as refunds.
REFUND ON TICKETS PURCHASED ON CREDIT CARD :
Tickets purchased on credit cards can be cancelled and Credit Slip obtained only at such Railway Stations where Credit Card counters exist. If you need to cancel your tickets at other stations, where such counters are not available, please cancel your reservation and obtain a Ticket Deposit Receipt. You can then apply to Chief Commercial Manager (Refunds) of the zone, to which the Ticket Deposit Receipt - issuing station belongs.
REFUND ON TATKAL TICKET :
No refund will be granted on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal tickets/duplicate tatkal ticket except in case of circumstances mentioned in para 2 of instructions contained in Commercial Circular no. 53 of 2006 issued vide letter no. 2006/TGII/ 20/P/Tatkal, dated 30.06.2006. However, full refund of fare and tatkal charges will be granted on the tickets booked under Tatkal scheme in the following circumstances :- If the train is delayed by more than 3 hours at the journey originating point of the passenger & not the boarding point if the passenger's journey originating point and boarding point are different. If the train is to run on a diverted route and passenger is not willing to travel. If the train is to run on diverted route and boarding station or the destination or both the stations are not on the diverted route. In case of non attachment of coach in which Tatkal accommodation has been earmarked and the passenger has not been provided  accommodation in the same class. If the party has been accommodated in lower class and does not want to travel. In case the party travels in lower class, the passenger will be given refund of difference of fare and also the difference of Tatkal charges, if any  For Latest updates on refund rules Click Here