Indian Railways Introduces New Ticket Cancellation Rules, Now You Won't Get Refund If...

2026-03-27 07:23:42

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Indian Railways introduced significant changes to the rules for Tatkal booking, ticket cancellation fee, and boarding points and travel class upgradation.

New cancellation fee rules for confirmed tickets

Here’s all you need to know in detail:

There will be no refund in case a confirmed ticket is cancelled less than eight hours before departure.
For cancellations made 24 hours up to 8 hours before departure time, 50 per cent of the fare will be refunded – subject to the minimum charge.

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In case of cancellations made 72 hours up to 24 hours before departure, 25 percent of the fare will be refunded - subject to the minimum charge.
In case of cancellations made more than 72 hours before departure time, a maximum refund will be provided. Only the minimum flat cancellation charge per passenger applies in this case.

Cancellation of tickets at terminating station

The Indian Railways removed location restrictions on counter ticket cancellations. Earlier, those with counter tickets were requited to cancel tickets at the terminating station. Now, as per new rules, passengers can cancel across the counter at any station.

In the case of E-tickets, Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) required has been completely eliminated. Now, no passenger action is required, and an automatic refund is granted.

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Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Railways introduced changes in tatkal booking system to curb hoarding of tickets by agents and touts. To overcome the problem, the Railways:

Introduced Aadhar-based OTP
Booking is restricted for the first 30 minutes
Anti-bot solutions deployed to filter non-genuine users
More than 3 crore suspicious user ID deactivated

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Ashwini Vaishnaw said the chart timings have been changed, and that charting has now been advanced from 4 hours to 9-18 hours. This will give passengers sufficient time to plan an alternative in case their tickets are not confirmed, providing some certainty.

Travel Class upgradation

For counter tickets, the Railways now allows travel class upgradation up to 30 minutes before departure time. Previously, passengers could upgrade travel class only before charting. “This will provide more comfortable travel for passengers,” the Railways minister said.

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Passengers can now change their boarding station up to 30 minutes before a train’s scheduled departure time. Previously, change of boarding point is allowed before the preparation of chart.

According to the Railway ministry, this feature will be especially useful in large cities with multiple railway stations.

This will allow passengers to begin their journey from any nearby station at their convenience.

When will the new Railway rules be implemented?

The Railways will implement these changes in a phased manner between April 1 and April 15, 2026.

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