Railways discontinued compensation scheme for delayed private trains, finds RTI

IRCTC has discontinued its compensation scheme for private train delays, which provided refunds for delays of over 60 minutes. The scheme, which runs from 2019 to 2024, aims to attract passengers to its Tejas trains.

In Short

• Compensation of Rs 26 lakh was given from 2019-2024
• Rs 15.65 lakh compensation paid to passengers in 2023-24
• Compensation scheme for private train delays ended on February 15

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has been informed that it discontinued the scheme of giving compensation to passengers for delays on private trains five years ago.

This information was received in response to an application filed by news agency PTI under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

IRCTC was established by the Ministry of Railways with the basic objective of operating the entire catering and tourism activities of the Railways and currently also handles ticket booking and private trains.

According to the IRCTC, under this scheme, Rs 26 lakh was given as compensation to the passengers from October 4, 2019 to February 16, 2024.

According to the information, in the year 2023-24 alone, compensation of Rs 15.65 lakh was given to the passengers.

IRCTC, in response to RTI, said, “The scheme providing compensation in case of delay or running of private trains has been discontinued with effect from February 15, 2024.”

The Corporation has refused to divulge the reasons behind the step, saying it's confidential.

According to the RTI reply, IRCTC operates two Tejas trains -- one from New Delhi to Lucknow (from October 4, 2019) and the other from Ahmedabad to Mumbai (from January 17, 2020).

The reason behind paying compensation to the passengers was to attract them towards these trains, which was a part of marketing activities, it said.

A compensation of Rs 1.78 lakh was given in 2019-20, zero in 2020-21, Rs 96,000 in 2021-22, Rs 7.74 lakh in 2022-23 and Rs 15.65 lakh in 2023-24 has been given to the passengers, the Corporation said in the RTI reply.

On the question of the amount of compensation given to the passenger in case of a train delay, it said that Rs 100 was given as compensation to the passenger for a delay of 60 to 120 minutes and Rs 250 was given for a delay of 120 to 240 minutes.

According to IRCTC, in case of cancellation of a train, the full fare was refunded to the passengers and in case of delay, food and water facilities were also provided for the passengers.