Indian Railways to resume levying surcharge during busy season from Oct 1

After a hiatus of three years, the Indian Railways will resume the busy season surcharge on goods traffic this time. Indian Railways is going to levy a surcharge of 15 per cent on all goods traffic from October 1, according to a Railway Board order, reported The Economic Times on Wednesday.

The surcharge will be levied on transportation of all commodities barring coal and coke, containers and automobiles moved in certain wagons, reported ET.

This move is expected to directing result in the rate hike of moving fertiliser, cement, and food grains on the Indian Railways network from next month.

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The surcharge will be levied from October 1 to June 30, with some exceptions. The Railways had withdrawn the charge on October 1, 2019, owing to the slowdown in economic activities in the nation. The charge was waived for all goods except iron ore and petroleum, oil, and lubricants.  

The busy season surcharge was raised from 12 per cent to 15 per cent on freight rates in March 2018.

The withdrawal of the surcharge led to a rise in freight loading as the railways earlier this month reported record high loading for two straight years till August.

In August 2022, the Indian Railways revenue from freight stood at Rs 12,927 crore against Rs 10,867 crore a year ago, officials said, reported ET.