Railways may waive off clerkage charge on waitlisted ticket refund

With millions of tickets cancelled every year, the charge forms a large sum for the railways

The Ministry of Railways is deliberating the possibility of waiving off clerkage charge while refunding the amount for waitlisted tickets upon cancellation or after the passenger chart is prepared, officials aware of the matter said. If the proposal goes through, passengers will see a reduction in cancellation charges.

 

According to current regulations –- formed in 2015 -– a clerkage charge of ₹60 is applicable on all reserved classes and that of ₹30 is levied on second class unreserved tickets. In the event of a cancellation or waitlisted/reservation against cancellation (RAC) ticket, this clerkage, along with a convenience fee, is not refunded to the passenger.

 

Now, there have been initial discussions within the railway board to refund this money to the passengers, especially as the national transporter looks to reduce the scale of the waiting list itself.

 

“There are multiple discussions ongoing. Clerkage charge is what the railways levies for creating and operating the infrastructure and facilities of the ticketing system – this is a functional expenditure for the system, which is working even if a ticket does not get confirmed. The discussions are also looking at whether a partial waive off or a full refund should be looked at,” a senior official said. 

 

The amount forms a large sum for the railways, which sees millions of ticket cancellations every year.

 

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha in December 2024, the Ministry of Railways said that it does not keep a separate record of revenue generated from cancellation of waitlisted tickets.

 

“The amount credited on account of cancellation of tickets is not maintained separately. The revenue generated from all sources, including cancellation, forms part of total receipts which are utilised for working expenses relating to maintenance and operations under revenue expenditure, and capital expenditure for renewal/replacement of assets, customer amenities and other unremunerative development works,” the ministry said in its response.

 

Waitlisted tickets are issued to avoid berths going vacant against cancellation of confirmed/RAC tickets during advance reservation period. Further, waitlisted ticket passengers have the option to update under the upgradation scheme or shift to alternate trains under the VIKALP scheme, it had informed the parliament.

 

In a response to a Right to Information (RTI) application in 2024, the railways had said that it generated revenue of ₹1,230 crore between 2021 and 2024 through ticket cancellations.

 

In 2021, a total of 25.3 million tickets were cancelled after being on the waiting list. This allowed the railways to earn ₹242 crore.

 

Similarly, 46 million tickets went through the cancellation system in 2022 raking in ₹439 crore for the national transporter. The number rose to ₹505 crore in 2023 with 52 million cancellations.

 

Apart from a clerkage charge, the railways through its ticketing arm – Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation -- also charges a convenience fee from the passengers in the range of ₹15-30 per passenger, depending on the class.

 

This fee, too, is non-refundable, and there is currently no proposal to make it refundable, the official said.