Indian Railways has now doubled the charges levied on cancellation of tickets and made the refund valid only till four hours before the scheduled departure of a train.
The new rules from the public transporter, which are effective from 12 November, are targeted at preventing black marketing of tickets, thereby assisting "genuine passengers" to obtain confirmed tickets.
Passengers will now have to pay Rs 60 instead of Rs 30 towards cancellation of a second-class confirmed ticket 48 hours before the scheduled departure of a train, while the fee will be Rs 180 for a Third-AC ticket.
"There will be no refund after the departure of a train and one has to get the refund four hours before the scheduled departure as per the revised refund rules," PTI quoted a senior railway ministry official, as saying.
"The rules were revised to discourage touts and ticketing agents who engage in black marketing of tickets," said the official.
The refund option for wait-listed and reservation-against-cancellation (RAC) tickets will be available till half-an-hour before the scheduled departure of the train.
The cancellation charge for second-sleeper class ticket has been increased to Rs 120 from Rs 60, while the charge will be Rs 200 for Second AC, according to a notification from the Railways.
Also, the cancellation fee will be 50% of the ticket between 12 hours and 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train.
The main idea behind a change in the Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Ticket and Refund of Fare) Rules, 2015, is to reduce the "scope of misuse", said the official.
