IRCTC stopped paying compensation for delay in private trains, big disclosure in RTI
RTI: This information came to light in response to an application filed by news agency 'PTI' under the RTI Act. IRCTC was established by the Ministry of Railways with the basic objective of operating the entire catering and tourism activities of the railways.
IRCTC has stopped the plan to pay compensation to passengers for the delay of private trains. This has been revealed through the Right to Information (RTI). IRCTC did not give the reason for this decision citing confidentiality.
This information came to light in response to an application filed by news agency 'PTI' under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was established by the Ministry of Railways with the basic objective of operating the entire catering and tourism activities of the railways and currently, it also operates ticket booking and private trains.
According to IRCTC, under this scheme, Rs 26 lakh was given to the passengers as compensation from October 4, 2019 to February 16 this year. In 2023-24 alone, a compensation of Rs 15.65 lakh was given to the passengers.
IRCTC said in response to the RTI that the scheme of giving compensation in case of delay or delay in the running of private trains was discontinued on 15 February 2024. IRCTC has refused to give the reason for closing this scheme, citing privacy policy.
IRCTC operates two Tejas trains, one of which was started from New Delhi to Lucknow (from October 4, 2019) and the other from Ahmedabad to Mumbai (from January 17, 2020).
According to the information, the reason behind giving compensation to the passengers was to attract passengers to these trains, which was part of marketing activities.
According to the information received under RTI, if we talk about the compensation given by IRCTC in the last five years, then Rs 1.78 lakh in 2019-20, zero in 2020-21, Rs 96 thousand in 2021-22, Rs 7.74 lakh in 2022-23 and Rs 15.65 lakh in 2023-24 has been given to the passengers as compensation.
On the question regarding the amount of compensation given to the passenger on train delay, IRCTC said that Rs 100 was given to the passenger as compensation for a delay of 60 to 120 minutes and Rs 250 for a delay of 120 to 240 minutes. According to IRCTC, the full fare was refunded to the passengers in case of cancellation of the train, and in case of delay, food and drink facilities were also provided to the passengers.
