Railway officials are in talks with seven insurance companies to provide passengers with insurance cover for rail travel.
Railway officials are in talks with seven insurance companies to provide passengers with insurance cover for rail travel.
Once the final decision is taken, passengers can buy insurance cover by paying an additional premium while booking the ticket.
Source: Smeet Chowdhury/Flickr
Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha said that the ministry will inform the Rajya Sabha once the final decision is taken. On February 9, preliminary discussions were held with seven public and private insurance companies about the same.
According to the minister, 123 rail accidents took place in 2012-13, 118 in 2013-14 and 135 accidents in 2014-15. And currently, 579 cases of claims of compensation to victims of rail accidents are still pending with various Railway Tribunals. During 2014-15 a compensation of Rs. 127.48 lakh was paid.
If finalised, the insurance cover will help passengers claim compensation for lost baggage or accident victims without any delay. Travel insurance was also proposed during the Railway Budget this year.
“There is a continuous effort on our part to ensure safe travel, yet untoward incidents do occur. To minimise the financial loss to passengers from such events, we are working with insurance companies to offer optional travel insurance,” Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had said.
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