Sops for railways unlikely as Jaitley says customers must pay for services

They have decided that by 2019 all its accounting will move to accrual system

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley indicated that there might be no sops for railways in the upcoming Union budget.

"The first essential principle of running any establishment is that the consumers must pay for the services they receive,” Jaitley said.

He said that even though Indian Railways has a monopoly over the rail network in the country, it faces competition from alternative modes such as air and road. “Normally, people don’t give up their turf so easily, but because of this pressure, railways is keen that the finance ministry takes over the railway budget itself because the burden of supplementing what is left behind becomes our problem,” the minister said. 

The railways has decided that by 2019 all its accounting will move to accrual system. However, the current cash-based accounting system will continue as well since it is mandated by the Constitution, reported The Economic Times.