New GST Rule: The ministry of railways issued a clarification amid confusion if GST charges would be levied on the cancellation of confirmed railway tickets by passengers on Tuesday. The ministry said there has been no change in the rules or provisions regarding the train ticket cancellation. It said that the refund amount when the ticket is cancelled along with the total GST charged at the time of booking the train ticket is refunded in full to the passengers.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Railways said: " As per instruction issued dated Sept 23, 2017, in case of cancellation of tickets, refund amount due as per Railway Cancellation of tickets and Refund of Fare Rule along with the total amount of GST charged at the time of booking is refunded in full."
"However, cancellation/clerkage charge applicable as per Refund rule & GST amount on cancellation/clerkage charge is retained by Railways. This is applicable only in AC & 1st class. GST is collected on behalf of the finance ministry. No change in rules/provision," the statement further added, according to the news agency ANI.
What Should You Know About Cancellation Charges?
Going by the existing rules, if a confirmed ticket is cancelled more than 48 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train, flat cancellation charges shall be deducted at Rs 240 for AC First Class/Executive Class, Rs 200 for AC 2 Tier/First Class, Rs. 180 for AC 3 Tier/AC Chair car/ AC 3 Economy, Rs 120 for Sleeper Class and Rs 60 for Second Class. The cancellation charges are applicable per passenger.
While cancelling a confirmed ticket within 48 hrs and up to 12 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charges shall be 25 per cent of the fare subject to the minimum flat rate mentioned in the above clause.
If cancelled less than 12 hours and up to four hours before the scheduled departure of the train up to chart preparation which is earlier, 50 per cent of the fare paid is subject to the minimum cancellation charges.
The Chart preparation time is taken as the chart preparation from the Train Originating Station or from the previous chart Preparation station.
Cancellation Of E-Tickets After Preparation Of Reservation Charts:
For Normal User: Also, note that e-tickets cannot be cancelled after chart preparation. Users are requested to use the online Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) filing for such cases and track the Status of the refund case through the tracking service provided by IRCTC.
TDR can be filed as per the Railway rules:
No refund of fare shall be admissible on the tickets having confirmed reservation in case the ticket is not cancelled or TDR is not filed online up to four hours before the scheduled departure of the train.
No refund of fare shall be admissible on RAC e-tickets in the case the ticket is not cancelled or TDR is not filed online up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.
In case, on a party e-ticket or a family e-ticket issued for travel of more than one passenger, some passengers have confirmed reservation and others are on RAC or waiting list, a full refund of fare, less clerkage, shall be admissible for confirmed passengers also subject to the condition that the ticket shall be cancelled online or online TDR shall be filed for all the passengers up to thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.