IRCTC has discontinued paying compensation for delays in private trains
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) officially scrapped its compensation scheme for delays in private trains, starting February 15, 2024. PTI learned this through a Right to Information (RTI) application. The scheme, which was part of IRCTC's marketing strategy to woo passengers, had been in effect since October 4, 2019.
Compensation scheme and total payouts
Under the now-defunct scheme, passengers were entitled to receive ₹100 for delays between 60-120 minutes and ₹250 for delays between 120-240 minutes. Full fare refunds were also provided in case of train cancelations, along with food and water during delays. The IRCTC has distributed a total of ₹26 lakh as compensation to passengers from the inception of this scheme till its termination.
Yearly compensation distribution and current operations
The annual breakup of the compensation paid under this scheme is: ₹1.78 lakh in 2019-20, nil in 2020-21 (COVID-19 pandemic), ₹96,000 in 2021-22, ₹7.74 lakh in 2022-23 and ₹15.65 lakh in 2023-24. Currently, IRCTC runs two Tejas trains—one from New Delhi to Lucknow (since October 4, 2019) and another from Ahmedabad to Mumbai (since January 17, 2020).
