The cancellation of tickets has emerged as a significant revenue stream for the railways, as evidenced by data obtained through a Right To Information (RTI) query. According to the data the railways earned an impressive ₹1,229 crores from cancelled waiting list tickets between 2021 and 2024. This data was shared by the Railway Ministry in response to an RTI application filed by activist Vivek Pandey from Madhya Pradesh, indicating a consistent rise in revenue generated through this avenue over the years.
According to the RTI reply, in 2021, a total of 2.53 crore tickets on the waiting list were cancelled and the earnings for the Railways shown is ₹242.68 crore. In 2022, a total of 4.6 crore tickers were cancelled and earnings rose to Rs 439 crore. Similarly, in 2023, the Railways earned ₹505 crore out of total 5.36 crore cancelled tickets and speaking of 2024, in January itself, the earnings were ₹43 crore out of 45.86 lakh cancelled tickets.
Total cancellations reported between November 5, 2023 to November 17, 2023 (i.e during Diwali week), the Railways saw 96.18 lakh ticket cancellations which included those cancelling their confirmed, reservation against cancellation (RAC) and waiting list tickets. As a result, Railways clocked earnings of ₹10.37 crore as ‘total cancellation earning’ from all tickets.
WHAT IS THE CANCELLATION CHARGE IMPOSED BY THE RAILWAYS?
If a confirmed ticket is cancelled more than 48 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train, flat cancellation charges shall be deducted:
₹240/- for AC First Class/Executive Class
₹200/- for AC 2 Tier/First Class
₹180 for AC 3 Tier/AC Chair car/ AC 3 Economy
₹120/- for Sleeper Class
₹60/- for Second Class.
If an RAC/waitlisted ticket is cancelled then ₹60 per passenger is deducted.
According to the Railways, Cancellation charges are per passenger and if a confirmed ticket is cancelled within 48 hrs and up to 12 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charges shall be 25% of the fare subject to the minimum flat rate mentioned in the above clause.
Less than 12 hours and upto four hours before the scheduled departure of the train up to chart preparation which is earlier, 50% of the fare paid subject to the minimum cancellation charges.
SOURCE: RTI QUERY REPLY
| YEAR | NO. OF BOOKED WL TICKETS (at booking time) | NO. OF CANCELLED WL TICKETS (at cancellation time) | CANCELLED WL TICKETS EARNINGS | TATKAL CANCELLED WL TICKETS EARNINGS |
| 2021 | 103,050,590 | 25,372,349 | 2,426,896,300 | 320,219,279 |
| 2022 | 148,096,154 | 46,005,242 | 4,391,684,300 | 887,030,993 |
| 2023 | 153,079,444 | 52,657,824 | 5,050,166,538 | 1,042,667,455 |
| 2024 (JAN 24) | 13,052,799 | 4,586,089 | 4,30,423,353 | 87,122,938 |
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