Indian Railways has changed the rules for advance ticket booking. Earlier, ticket booking used to start 120 days before the journey; now, it has been reduced to 60 days. The new decision will come into effect on November 1, 2024.
According to the Ministry of Railways, the new rules for advance train ticket booking will not affect the tickets that have already been booked. Also, there has been no change in the 365-day deadline for foreign tourists.
Currently, ticket booking is done through the IRCTC website, app, and railway booking counters. 12.38 lakh tickets are booked from IRCTC every day.
Indian Railways had increased the reservation period in 2015
The reservation period was 60 days until April 1, 2015. The government had then argued for extending the booking period to 120 days that further extension would discourage brokers as higher cancellation charges would be levied.
However, many had argued that the railways’ objective behind extending the reservation period was to earn additional revenue through interest for the additional 60 days as well as a higher number of cancellations.
IRCTC’s earnings will decrease due to interest and cancellation
Due to the reduction in the reservation period, IRCTC’s interest and cancellation earnings will be less. Its effect is also visible in its shares. The company’s share closed down by about 2.5% at Rs 870. The share has fallen by 6% in a month. The company’s market cap is about Rs 70 thousand crores.
Indian Railways also plans to end the waiting list
- IRCTC has recently made several changes, including plans to eliminate the long-standing problem of waiting lists in trains within the next five to six years to ensure that every passenger gets a confirmed berth.
- There are also plans to launch a railway super app, which will have services ranging from passenger ticket booking to travel planning. Railways also plans to install AI-enabled cameras. This will monitor food quality as well as train occupancy.
IRCTC was included in Indian Railways in 1999
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a ‘Mini Ratna (Category-I)’ Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, Government of India. IRCTC was incorporated on 27 September 1999 as a branch of Indian Railways.
Its objective is to manage catering and hospitality at stations, trains and other places. Along with this, it promotes domestic and international tourism through the development of budget hotels, special tour packages, information and commercial publicity and a global reservation system. The corporate office of IRCTC is located in New Delhi.
Core Activities of IRCTC
- Catering & Hospitality
- Internet Ticketing
- Travel & Tourism
- Packaged Drinking Water (Rail Neer)
