Features of Tatkal Scheme in Railways

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Railways

10-August-2016 16:06 IST

Features of Tatkal Scheme in Railways

Adequate safeguards have been built in the scheme to avoid misuse of the Tatkal scheme, some of which are as under: 

i. One of the passengers booked on the ticket has to show the prescribed proof of identity (in original) during journey failing which all the passengers booked on that ticket are treated as travelling without ticket and charged accordingly.

ii. No refund is granted on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal ticket. 

iii. The facility of change of name is not permitted on the booking made under Tatkal Scheme. 

iv. The timings of opening of booking under Tatkal scheme on the opening day of reservation have been staggered to 1000 hours & 1100 hours on the previous day of journey from train originating station for AC and non-AC classes respectively.

v. Authorised ticketing agents have been restricted from booking Tatkal tickets during the first thirty minutes of opening of Tatkal booking i.e. from 1000 hours to 1030 hours and from 1100 hours to 1130 hours. 

vi. Web service agents have been permitted to book only one Tatkal ticket per train per day. 

vii. Maximum four passengers per PNR for Tatkal Tickets. Individuals are allowed only 2 Tatkal tickets per IP Address from 1000 hours to 1200 hours permissible and maximum number of tickets allowed to an individual user is 6 per month. 

viii. Automatic log out after completion of one transaction. 

Whenever any instance of misuse of Tatkal scheme was brought to the notice, the root cause for such misuse was examined and remedial steps were taken by modifying the provisions of the scheme to plug the loopholes. Centralized statistics, State/Union territory wise regarding instances of such misuse is not maintained. However, since 2014 till date, instructions regarding modification in Tatkal scheme have been issued on six occasions. This Press Release is based on the information given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 10.08.2016 (Wednesday).

Soon, you can cancel your train tickets just by a phone call

Come April and cancelling a confirmed train ticket would only be a phone call away. 

Indian Railway is set to launch a facility next month for the hassled passengers who find it hard to reach its counters within the stipulated time to cancel their confirmed tickets and claim refund. 

"One has to dial 139 giving details of the confirmed ticket for cancelling it and the sender will get a one-time password (OTP). Passenger has to reach the counter the same day and reveal the OTP to claim refund," said a senior Railway Ministry official. 

After the change in refund rules, a lot of passengers are now finding it difficult to reach counters to cancel the reserved tickets within the stipulated time and as a result they are losing money. 

According to the new refund rules, railways has doubled the ticket cancellation charge with the aim of helping genuine passengers get confirmed tickets. 

"The refund rules were revised to discourage touts and ticketing agents who engage in black marketing of tickets," said the official, adding "however, it has also resulted in inconvenience in some genuine cases. So we are now providing the 139 facility for cancellation." 

Coming to the aid of harried passengers, railways will launch the cancellation facility through 139 service so that one does not have to rush to the counter to cancel confirmed tickets. 

The tickets which are booked online can be cancelled on the ticketing websites. The 139 facility is for those who bought tickets from counters. 

The software is ready and the facility is likely to be formally launched in the second week of April.

Source : The Economic Times

Now, book train tickets 30 minutes prior to departure

Come November 12, you can book a railway ticket online 30 minutes prior to the departure of a train.

Railways have also made changes in its system of preparation of chart, which would now be prepared twice.

First reservation chart would be prepared four hours prior to departure of a train while second and final one, 30 minutes before the train departs, a senior railway official said.

According to the revised rules, booking will be allowed on internet as well as at reservation counters for a particular train, subject to availability of berths, even after the preparation of first reservation chart.

Railways have also made it mandatory for the concerned department to finalise the reservation chart four hours before the departure of train from November 12 in order to facilitate passengers to know the status of their ticket and plan their journey well in time.

A second and final chart of reservations will be made available before departure of train and handed over to onboard ticket checking staff.

Advance reservation period increased from 60 days to 120 days w.e.f.1.4.2015 - Railway Board Order

Advance reservation period increased from 60 days to 120 days w.e.f.1.4.2015 - Railway Board Order

It has been decided to increase the advance reservation period from 60 days to 120 days (excluding the date of journey) w.e.f. 01.04.2015. CRIS will make necessary changes in the software for this purpose under intimation to all Zonal Railways as well as Board’s office.

There will be no change in case of certain day time Express Trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express, special trains, etc. where lower time limits for advance reservations are at present in force. There will also be no change in case of the limit of 360 days for foreign tourists.

Board desire that the above change may be given wide publicity well in advance of its implementation. Suitable instructions to all concerned may be issued to ensure smooth change-over to the new time limit.

Click the link to view original order issued by Indian Railways

‘Go India’ Smart Card for Train Tickets

‘Go-India’ smart card scheme has been launched on pilot basis on two sectors i.e. New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah. At present, the Go-India smart card enables passengers to pay for reserved and unreserved tickets. The smart card can be used at nominated Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS)/Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters and at Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) on these two sectors for issuing tickets. The salient features of the Go-India smart card are as under: 

Initially, the card can be get issued by paying minimum Rs.70/- where passenger will get Rs.20/- balance.After that, card can be recharged for Rs.20/- or in multiple of Rs.50/- upto Rs. 5000/-.

Maximum limit on Go-India smart card is Rs.10,000/-.

Go-India smart card has life time validity. In case of no usage in six months from the date of last transaction, smart card will be temporarily deactivated which can be activated again by paying Rs.50/- as activation fee.

The scheme is intended to reduce the transaction time at the booking counters for the convenience of passengers as it facilitates cashless transaction.             

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Railways Advise Passengers to Use Current Reservation Counter Facility for short Notice Journeys

The Ministry of Railways has advised the passengers travelling on the train on a short notice to use the facility of Current Reservation Counter situated at the train originating main stations. The Ministry has pointed out that vacant reserved seats available on train after preparation of reservation charts can be booked at the Current Counters of the train originating stations upto a specified time before departure of trains.

The Railways wishes to create further awareness among the passengers about this facility as due to lack of adequate awareness, it is misused by unscrupulous elements/intermediaries for providing confirmed accommodation to passengers at a premium by using the current counter facility.

It may be mentioned that a reserved ticket can be booked across the Passenger Reservation System counters all over the country as well as through internet only upto the time of preparation of reservation charts. After preparation of reservation charts, the berths/seats available, if any, can be booked at the current counter available at the major stations. The reservation charts are normally prepared 3 to 4 hours before he scheduled departure of the train. In case of trains leaving early morning, the charts are prepared on the previous night.

Source: PIB

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Electronic Devices for Ticket Checking Staff in Trains

Ministry of Railways

Electronic Devices for Ticket Checking Staff in Trains

Electronic devices in the form of Hand Held Terminals (HHT) have been provided to the Ticket Checking Staff in about 11 pairs of trains as a pilot project. These devices are used for marking passengers as turned up/not-turned up, giving information on vacant berths availability to passengers at stations and on the website, facilitating greater transparency in the on-board allocation of berths and system accountal of ticket checking transactions.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Bharatsinh Solanki in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

Source: PIB

Reservation while engaging candidates as Act Apprentices for training purposes on Indian Railways

Government of India (Bharat Sarkar)
Ministry of Railways (Rail Mantralaya)
(Railway Board)

RBE No.92/2011
S.C. No.28 to MC.08

No.E(MPP)2002/6/10
New Delhi, dated 17.06.2011
The General Managers,
All Indian Railways Including Production Units
Sub: - Reservation while engaging candidates as Act Apprentices for training purposes on Indian Railways
Ref: -
(i) Board’s letter of even number dated 21.12.2002
(ii) Board’s letter No. E(MPP)2006/6/11 dated 23.07.2008
Some of the railways have sought clarifications with regard to reservation of SC/ST/OBC candidates while implementing the Apprentices Act 1961.
It is clarified that for reservation of training seats for SC/ST/OBC candidates, while implementing the Apprentices Act 1961, the same shall be as under: -

(a) SC Candidates : 15% (b) ST Candidates : 17% (C) OBC Candidates: 27%
Accordingly, Para 7 of Master Circular on Act Apprentices stands modified as per correction slip enclosed.
DA: As above

(Anil Wason)
Dy. Director E(MPP)
Railway Board

ADVANCE CORRECTION SLIP OF MASTER CIRCULAR NO.08

Para 7 of the Master Circular No.08 on Apprentices Act 1961 stands modified as under:
‘Reservation of training places in every designated trade will be as under: -
(a) SC Candidates : 15%
(b) ST Candidates : 17%
(C) OBC Candidates: 27%
Note:
(i) When the prescribed number of persons belonging either to the Scheduled Castes or to the Scheduled Tribes are not available, the training places so reserved for them may be filled by persons belonging to the Scheduled Tribes or as the case may be, to the Scheduled Caste and if the prescribed training places can not be filled even in the above given manner, then the training places so lying unfilled may be filled by persons not belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes. (Apprenticeship Rules 1962)(ii) Similarly, the seats remaining unfilled by OBC candidates be filled by unreserved category. (Board’s letter No. E(MPP)2002/6/10 dated 31.12.2002)
(Board’s letter No. E(MPP)2002/6/10 dated %1 .06.2011)

Source: AIRF
[http://airfindia.com/Orders_11/Reservation%20Act%20Apprentice_17.06.11.pdf]