Covid-19 Outbreak: Railways to refund Rs 1,490 crore for cancellation of 94 lakh tickets
Railways will invest Rs 1,490 crore in reimbursing 94 lakh train ticket reservations that it had to cancel due to the extension of the lockdown until May 3. Previously, the tickets booked prior to the March 25 lockdown had been refunded.
Updated: Apr 16, 2020 12:37 IST
|Niranjani Jesentha Kumari Prabagararaj
|Railways will provide full refund to people
Top Railway officials told PTI that a sum of Rs 830 crore would be refunded for 55 lakh travel bookings made between March 22 and April 14, as the Railways had suspended services three days before the lockdown on March 22. Another Rs 660 crore will be returned for nearly 39 lakh travel bookings made between April 15 and May 3, they said.
After the lockdown was extended to May 3, Railways said all passengers would receive a complete refund after April 14 for tickets booked for journeys, and all train services would be suspended till the lockdown deadline. The also said the refund amount would be returned automatically to customers who booked tickets via online platforms, while those who booked the tickets directly will demand a refund from the reservation counters until July 31.
Railways said no advance train ticket bookings, including e-tickets, would be allowed until further government orders. The facility to cancel tickets online will still be open. Railways said there would be a full refund available to people who want to cancel their train tickets booked for trips after May 3.
Railways are also attracting flack from people on social media who say the national transporter has not refunded the convenience fee for online transactions that they make. "If the train is canceled, the passenger gets the full fare refunded.