5 New Tatkal Cancellation Rules Every Passenger Should Be Aware Of!

Diwali is coming up, and then Christmas, and New year will greet us. During festive season, the number of passengers travelling in trains increase by major proportion, as every one is either going to his/her native place, coming back from vacation or simply travelling for leisure.

Tatkal ticketing often becomes the last resort for last-moment traveling; and there has been several changes in tatkal cancellation which every train passenger should be aware of.

Some of these rules were introduced last year, and some of them have been recently altered, especially for the benefit of travellers during festive season.

Tatkal Cancellation: The New Rules

Here are 5 major tatkal cancellation rules which you should be aware of:

Tatkal Cancellation

You can cancel your waiting list or RAC tatkal tickets, up to 30 minutes before the departure of the train. When Tatkal was introduced, only confirmed tickets were issued. Later, cancellation of waiting list/RAC was allowed 24 hours prior to the departure. And now, you can cancel it right at the brink of departure.

Tatkal Refund

Now, the refund rules for tatkal, which are pretty strict, to say the least. In case you cancel your ticket after your waiting list or RAC ticket becomes confirmed, then there won’t be any refund. In fact, any cancelling any confirmed Tatkal ticket (either confirmed by default or confirmed from waiting/RAC) has zero refund.

Tatkal Cancellation For Family

Another pretty interesting tatkal refund rule: Say, there are 4 family members who are travelling together. While booking the tatkal ticket, 3 family members get confirmed berths, while one tickets is waiting or RAC. In case you cancel everyone’s tatkal ticket before 30 minutes of departure, you can get refund for all – the waiting/RAC as well as confirmed ticket holder.

TDR Cancellation

Cancellation via Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) remains the same. If a train is late by 3 or more hours, or is cancelled, then full refund for tatkal tickets is applicable, when cancelled at the counter. Reason is important to share regarding the TDR way of cancelling.

Pay Later

Railways has also launched  ePayLater or Pay-on-Delivery schemes for tatkal tickets. In this, you can book your tickets now, and then pay for the amount after 14 days.

Registration must be done beforehand, for activating ePayLater or Pay-on-Delivery scheme at www.irctc.co.in. Only tickets booked online are eligible for this offer.