Ticket Cancellation Guide | IRCTC and Indian Railways

This guide shows how cancellations of tickets and e-tickets can be done through various methods

 

There are times when someone has booked a ticket and has gotten into some emergency, forcing him/her to not be able to travel with the railway ticket. Luckily, the government has set some rules for the cancellation of
train and various cases in which refund will be provided to the traveler.

irctc ticket cancellation and partial ticket cancellation
There are certain restrictions to the cancellation refund. They vary depending on how the ticket was bought (online or offline). We will go through both the cases.

Offline Ticket Cancellation

Indian Railway Reservation/Cancellation Form
Couter Ticket Booking Reservation/Cancellation Form

Tickets bought offline, within the cancellation period, can be cancelled through the following procedure

  • Retrieving the cancellation form from the ticket counter
  • Filling and submitting the form
  • Paying the clerkage fees and penalty(if any)

The refund will depend on the following rules of the possible cases

Ticket Bought Without Reservation

The ticket will be refunded with the deduction of clerkage in the following conditions.
  1. The ticket is presented within 3 hours of the issue.
  2. Ticket is presented before 12:00 AM preceding the date of departure if the ticket was bought in advance.

Ticket Bought With Reservation

The tickets bought with a reservation, it can be cancelled and or refunded under the following circumstances
  1. If the ticket is presented 48 hours(2 days) before the scheduled departure, a nominal fees will be deducted per passenger. It is Rs. 120 for AC first class/executive class, Rs. 100 for AC two tiered/First Class, Rs. 90 for AC three tier/Chair Car/ economy class, Rs. 60 for Sleeper and Rs. 30 for Second Class.
  2. If the ticket is presented between 48 hours and 6 hours before the departure, the cancellation charges will be 25% of the fare with a minimum charge set beforehand.
  3. If the ticket is presented between 6 hours before departure and 2 hours after departure, the cancellation charges will be 50% of the fare.
  4. There will be no refund if the ticket is presented 2 hours after departure of the train.
  5. Full refund and lesser clerk charges will be given to passengers who have bought a collective(family) ticket and have few members in the waiting list when the ticket is presented between 6 hours before departure and 2 hours after the departure of the train

Ticket In Waiting List Or RAC

Tickets in Waitiing list or RAC can be cancelled by the PRS counters at the stations with a clerk charge. The refunds and cancellations are subject to the following rules
  1. The ticket must be presented within 3 hours after the departure of the train for a refund. Any requests beyond the time will not get a refund.
  2. For night trains (2100 to 0600 hours actual departure) and hilly areas, the refund window is the first 2 hours of opening of reservation office.

Online Ticket Cancellation

Tickets bought online through IRCTC can be cancelled only Before the chart preparation is complete. Chart preparation is usually done the previous night if it departs before 12 Noon. The cancellation can be done through two ways
  1. Offline filing of Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR).
  2. Online TDR by selecting ‘File Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR)’ under the ‘Services’ menu once you login through your account of IRCTC.
Some points to note for online ticket cancellation
  • The refund rules are the same as the offline tickets. Take a look above to see the rules.
  • For tickets booked at the old site, click on ‘Old transaction history’ from ‘My transactions’.
  • Waiting list and RAC tickets can be refunded even after chart preparation. The timeline is same as offline one.

Steps to Cancel IRCTC Tickets Partially or Fully

  • Login to your IRCTC Account.
  • Go to My Transaction tab and click on Booked Ticket History in the drop down menu.
    irctc ticket cancellation partially or fully
  • Your booked ticket list will appear.
  • Select the ticket which you want to cancel or in which you want to cancel partially.
  • After selecting, click on “Cancel Ticket” button.
  • A new window will open, select the passengers of whom you want to cancel the ticket. Select all if you want to cancel the whole ticket.
  • Finally click on cancel.

Tatkal Ticket Cancellation

Tatkal Tickets can be cancelled in the same manner but are non-refundable. For cancellations and waitlisted tickets, charges will be applied as per railway rules. Partial cancellation is allowed for tatkal bookings but the person whose ID was used should not be cancelled. If the ticket of the person whose ID is used is cancelled, all the tickets will be cancelled.

Cancellation If Train Is Cancelled

If the train is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, the tickets will be fully refunded with some clerk charges. The cancellation must be done within 3 days of scheduled departure of the train.

IRCTC cancellation policy changes from time to so please be update with latest news by following our website on facebook google plus and on twitter.

If you have any problems, sound of in the comments section.

23 comments on “Ticket Cancellation Guide | IRCTC and Indian Railways

  1. Rameshwaram Indian Railways

    Thank you very much. Pehle main apna ticket cancel nai karwa pa raha tha. Aapka ye post padh ke samjh aaya. Bahut acha likha. Meri. Angrezi thodi kamzor hai lekin mjhe samjh aagya. Mkhe tatkal ticket bhi book karna seekhna hai. Mene aapki aur article dekhe thay login portal k baare m bahut kuch jaanne ko mila.

    Reply
  2. Laxman Daryani

    I have received only 50% of amount as refund for the cancelled train.(From GIMB Gandhidham to BDTRS Bandra Terminus)
    Can you please guide whom to approach as IRCTC does not deal such cases.They have left it to Zonal railway without giving contact details in case of any issue.

    Reply
  3. Laxman Daryani

    I have received 50% as refund for the cancelled train.(22904 BDTS AC SF EXP of 13th Aug 2015)
    IRCTC has not given any contact details of Zonal railway in case of any issue.
    Can you please provide such contact deatails so that I can get full refund

    Reply
  4. Anonymous

    Hi, I have booked a ticket in reservation counter but due to some emergency issues I want to cancel the ticket which is not with me right now…Is there a chance or way that I can cancel my ticket through online irtct portal….plz suggest

    Reply
  5. Malik Junaid Rasheed

    Well it is a good question but it is not in my knowledge. I have always cancelled the ticket on the same window. You can try by going to some other window and ask for cancellation. However, I think it is not necessary.

    Reply
  6. Unknown

    Hi can anyone tell… how much refund one should get if the ticket is booked online through irctc website . Its confirmed ticket of sitting . Due to train late passenger could not cancel as charts are prepaired and want to cancel. How he gets refund nd how much.

    Reply
  7. Malik Junaid Rasheed

    If train gets late more than 3 hours, you can file TDR. After investigation IRCTC will refund the amount in your account, deducting the service charge only. If it is not late more than 3 hours, you will hardly get any refund or a very minimal amount will be refunded.

    Reply
  8. Malik Junaid Rasheed

    You can cancel one. Just go and fill the Cancellation form. Fill only the name of the person you want to cancel. Also, do mention one time to the man at the window that you want to cancel just one.

    Reply
  9. Naazneen

    I have cancelled the ticket that I booked online but haven’t received a refund yet.How many days it take to do so ? I have mailed already to which they have given me a ticket id but to no avail

    Reply

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