Indian Railways introduces new rules for counter tickets
Indian Railways announced five new reforms under its ongoing 'Reform Express' initiative, bringing in new rules to make ticketing more transparent and passenger-friendly.
Counter tickets will soon be cancellable from any railway station across the country and passengers will even be able to change their boarding station digitally up to 30 minutes before the train departs from its origin station.
The goal? Cut down on ticket misuse and give genuine travelers a smoother ride.
Speculative bookings have been a long-standing issue
The updated policy means if you cancel more than 72 hours before your trip, there's just a flat fee.
Cancel between 72 and 24 hours, and you'll lose 25% of the fare; between 24 and eight hours, it's a 50% deduction.
No refunds if you're under eight hours from departure.
These changes are all about stopping last-minute speculative bookings so that real passengers have better access to seats.