Free So Far, Indian Railways Will Start Charging for This Service From September 1!

IRCTC has decided to take this step and it shall be implemented from next month.

By Rayomand Engineer

August 13, 2018

The Indian Railways has decided to pull the plug on free travel insurance for tickets booked. According to the Financial Express, a senior Railway Ministry official has stated that this will be done from September 1st.

The official said that the IRCTC had been giving free insurance since December 2017 to push for digital transactions. However, travellers who book tickets through the IRCTC website or mobile application will now have to choose from two options–to opt for travel insurance or not.

The national transporter had tied up with various insurance companies, sharing a number of schemes. Some of these were–cover of Rs 10 lakh in case of a person’s death during a train journey, Rs 7.5 lakh if a person was disabled due to an accident, Rs 2 lakh if a person was injured, and Rs 10,000 for the transportation of mortal remains.

The IRCTC has decided to scrap the concept of free travel insurance. Image Credit Wikimedia Commons

The order to charge travel insurance will be generated in a few days, and as of now, no amount has been disclosed.

Along with free insurance, the Railways had also omitted the ticket booking charge for passengers who made payments using a debit card.

The Railways has always pushed passengers for digital transactions. It is committed to digital payments and even released its payment gateway called IPAY for this. In yet another boost to cashless spending, the IRCTC had decided to collaborate with the State Bank of India, to provide a debit card to passengers.

Well, tickets are the primary source of revenue for the Railways and any steps taken to modify the prices is bound to have an effect.

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

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