Railways seek reimbursement for IRCTC service charge waiver

IRCTC used to charge Rs 40 per ticket for bookings in AC classes, Rs 20 per ticket in sleeper class

With the finance ministry starting the process for listing of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and Ircon International (Ircon), the loss of service charge for IRCTC has become a cause for concern for railway officials.

The government waived the service charge following demonetisation to encourage cashless transactions.

The railway ministry has written to the finance ministry seeking reimbursement of the loss amounting to over Rs 500 crore on an annualised basis. IRCTC shares half of this service charge revenue with the railways. Officials said the process for appointment of merchant bankers was under