A train No. 12030 scheduled for departure Amritsar on 4th October was cancelled. Ideally the passengers should have been refunded the amount immediately say in a day or two. A complaint from one of the passenger informs that the ticket amount has still not been refunded even as on date i.e 29th December 2016 i.e almost three months. A copy of the mail dtd. 14 December 2016 received from IRCTC is reproduced which ofcourse is really shocking: 'Dear Customer, Kindly note that we are in the process of communicating this refund process online with most of the Railway Zones to make the refund process faster and are expediting the matter with the competent authorities but still amount of refund is decided and granted by the concerned Railway zones and this process takes some time. Kindly cooperate with us,once the refund is received from the railways the amount will be credited to your same account. Thanks & Regards' Is it morally right for Railways/ IRCTC to sit on passengers money for so long?. Why not Railways should also suitably compensate the passengers for cancelling the train on the similar lines of DGCA have mandated Airlines to adhere to cancellation policy regulated by DGCA. Hope Circle Administrator Railways would look into.

A train No. 12030 scheduled for departure Amritsar on 4th October was cancelled. Ideally the passengers should have been refunded the amount immediately say in a day or two. A complaint from one of the passenger informs that the ticket amount has still not been refunded even as on date i.e 29th December 2016 i.e almost three months. A copy of the mail dtd. 14 December 2016 received from IRCTC is reproduced which ofcourse is really shocking:
"Dear Customer, Kindly note that we are in the process of communicating this refund process online with most of the Railway Zones to make the refund process faster and are expediting the matter with the competent authorities but still amount of refund is decided and granted by the concerned Railway zones and this process takes some time. Kindly cooperate with us,once the refund is received from the railways the amount will be credited to your same account.
Thanks & Regards"
Is it morally right for Railways/ IRCTC to sit on passengers money for so long?. Why not Railways should also suitably compensate the passengers for cancelling the train on the similar lines of DGCA have mandated Airlines to adhere to cancellation policy regulated by DGCA.
Hope Circle Administrator Railways would look into. more

Helpful Make Railways Better Dec 29

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PRADEEP GUPTA (PEDIATRICIAN )

This is a very very relevant issue. There is no policy or time frame within which these monies are to be refunded. Let the railways take a little time, say one week for such cases, but there after,PENAL interest should be slapped on the concerned zonal railway / IRCTC. if passengers are penalised for late cancellation, why is the department Sleeping more

Jan 16

R P Sharma (Railway Services Management Improvement + Food Quality Safety Management)

Thanks to Mr Virmani for raising the issue yet allow me to add that soft approach is forever considered an inherent weakness instead if you simply go by desirable consumer requisites, several questions arise: 1. Was the traveler advanced informed in advance 2. Was alternate transport offered 3. In case the second choice was not opted by traveler the refund ought have been immediate. 4. An inconvenience amount should in fact be offered for failure to honor commitment on part of railways. more

Jan 08

DILIP BISWAS (Professor and Research Scientist in Mechanical Engineering)

No comment on this issue.. It seems there is a presence of tout/ broker between the person concern and railway. On Thu, Dec 29, 2016 at 2:55 PM, S K Virmani wrote: > more

Jan 04

Anil Sharma (Ex Senior Govt. officer)

you are forgetting the enormous hidden interest that can be credited to the Railway's kitty besides existing decent cancellation charges which are being levied by the Railways for all tickets including those wait-listed,by delaying refunds for prolonged periods.Hence it is only fair that any refunds delayed by a month or more should attract additional payment of monthly market interest for the delayed period by the Railways over and above the refund amount due.Refunds due to cancellation of trains should however be made within 24 hrs.You may observe that while there is no flexibility possible in deduction of any cancellation charges for the benefit of the passenger but Railways can take their own time in settlement of refunds including those which would have accrued due to cancellation of trains which would be beyond the control of the poor passenger. more

Jan 04

CAROL VANDECASTEELE (yogi)

S K Virmani, you are totally right. An airline has not that long refundment, i got them in 24h or less!!! and full automatic on my bank account just after filling in proper form online.... INDIAN RAILWAYS HAS TO RETHINK HER ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES IF IT WANT TO SURVIVE. It is nowhere compared to the smallest local trains in any Westeuropean country. Even 50y ago Belgium railways did better in my childhood without any computer at that time and in a country with a population density and train network density by square km comparable to India. I always seen in anywhere in Europe you take your tickets at the counter just before going to the platform to bord the train, and for long distance (between 2 countries) 1 day before was more than enough. More counters more trains more railway security and adminsistrative officers would do the deal as wages are affordable (5 to 10 times less than western countries) and so many Indian people unemployed. When will ministers and top railway decision makers go and take an example to foreign countries and come out of their ivory tower??? more

Jan 04

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