Train passengers will be getting service charges exempted on tickets that are booked online till the month of September. This is as the government waived off service charges last November after Demonetisation, in an attempt to increase digital booking.
The service charges in general range from Rs. 20 to Rs. 40 per ticket for online booking. It was decided by the Government to waive off service charges from November 26, 2016, to March 31, 2017. It was later extended to June 30. A senior railways official said that this date, however, is further extended to end of September 2017.
This decision was taken not only to help the passengers, but also promote digital transactions. The ticketing agency of Railways, IRCTC, is expecting a loss of about Rs. 500 crores per year due to this move.
The Railway Ministry approached the Finance Ministry so as to seek reimbursement for this loss. The IRCT shares half of their service charges income with the railway, which will again be a loss to the railway ministry.
