No More Waiting in Long Queues to Cancel Railway Tickets. Just Dial 139.

Cancelling a confirmed train ticket will soon be just a phone call away for passengers who book their tickets from the counters at stations. All one has to do is dial 139.

The passenger will be asked for details of the confirmed ticket and will be provided with a one-time password, which he/she has to show at the counter and claim the refund.

Similar Story

IIT Madras Offers Free Online Course For Engineers: Here's How You Can Earn a Certificate

IIT Madras is offering a free online course for engineers on data science via the SWAYAM portal. Read on to know more about duration, syllabus and how to get a certificate.

Read more >

Source: Flickr

This will help all those passengers who do not have access to the internet and have to struggle to reach the counters for cancelling tickets within the stipulated time so that they don’t lose much money. The new facility is likely to be formally launched in the second week of April.

It is being introduced keeping in mind the problem some passengers have been facing since the implementation of new refund rules on cancellation of tickets, in November last year.

“The refund rules were revised to discourage touts and ticketing agents who engage in black marketing of tickets, however, it has also resulted in inconvenience in some genuine cases. So we are now providing the 139 facility for cancellation,” a railways official told PTI.

Last year, Railways doubled the ticket cancellation charge to help genuine passengers get confirmed tickets. According to the new rules, the minimum charges on cancellation 48 hours before the scheduled departure time of the train have been doubled for all classes. For cancellation between 48 hours and 12 hours before the scheduled departure, passengers have to pay 25% of the cost of the ticket, and for cancellation between 12 hours and 4 hours before the scheduled departure, the charge will be 50% of the cost. There will be no refund after these time limits

Earlier, the 25% charge was for cancellation between 48 hours and 6 hours, and it was 50% for cancellation from 6 hours before the scheduled departure of the train and up to 2 hours after the actual departure.

With this latest facility, passengers now need to show the one-time password at the counter on the same day of receiving it, and claim the refund.

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: [email protected], or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia).