Parliament Question: Service and Cancellation Charges by IRCTC

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4316 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026 SERVICE AND CANCELLATION CHARGES BY IRCTC 4316. SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware of concerns about service and cancellation charges on IRCTC online self-booking of railway tickets through IRCTC and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government has examined the retention of cancellation charges, clerkage/service charges on fully waitlisted tickets (both General and Tatkal) without confirmed berths constitute unfair trade practice and if so, the details thereof; (c) whether the Government proposes to waive all service charges for online self-booking and cancellation to encourage digital transactions and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether there is any proposal for full refund including service charges, in cases when waitlisted tickets (General and Tatkal) are automatically cancelled due to non-confirmation and if so, the details thereof; and (e) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to ensure transparency, consumer protection and passenger-friendly refund policies in railway ticketing? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e) Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has provided the facility to book reserved tickets online saving passengers from the trouble of going to reservation counters to book the tickets thus saving travel time and transportation costs. §IRCTC incurs substantial expenditure on providing online ticketing facility and in order to defray the cost incurred in maintenance, upgradation and expansion of ticketing infrastructure, a very nominal convenience fee is levied by IRCTC. The online ticket booking facility provided by IRCTC is one of the most passenger friendly initiatives of Indian Railways and its acceptance can be gauged from the fact that at present approximately 88% of the reserved tickets are booked online. Clerkage is levied on cancellation of all waitlisted tickets including cancelled through IRCTC website as per the Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Tickets and Refund of Fare) Rules, 2015, notified through Gazette notification and as amended from time to time. Review and rationalization of policy is a continuous and ongoing process. *****