IRCTC stops paying compensation to passengers for delays in non-public trains: RTI

The Company has refused to reveal the explanations behind the step saying it is confidential.

In accordance with the RTI reply, IRCTC operates two Tejas trains — one from New Delhi to Lucknow (from 4 October 2019) and the opposite from Ahmedabad to Mumbai (from 17 January 2020).

The rationale behind paying compensation to the passengers was to draw them in direction of these trains, which was part of advertising actions, it stated.

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 Company stated within the RTI reply.

On the query of the quantity of compensation given to the passenger in case of prepare delay, it stated 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.

In accordance with IRCTC, in case of cancellation of the prepare, the total fare was refunded to the passengers and in case of delay, meals and water services have been additionally offered to the passengers.