Indian Railways: Ticket cancellation now possible via SMS, telephones on 139; Suresh Prabhu flags off features

Together with another user friendly feature being rolled out by the Indian Railways, passengers can now cancel affirmed train tickets booked through SMS or phone call at counters and claim refund for exactly the same.

By: PTI Updated: April 29, 2016 5:12 PM

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Using the Indian Railways rolling out yet another user friendly feature, passengers are now able to cancel supported train tickets booked through phone call or SMS to 139 and claim refund for exactly the same. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu found the two facilities today as portion of his ministry’s attempt to improve the portfolio of passenger comforts.

There’s yet another facility that could be mainly welcomed by Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and foreign travelers, as they could book train tickets on Indian Railways with any international credit and debit card. As of this moment, only American Express international credit cards are taken at Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)’s portal.

For cancellation of Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counter tickets, passengers need to dial 139 and select option 6 from the principal menu of Interactive Voice Recorder (IVR). They’ll then get a one-time password (OTP). Cancellation will undoubtedly be processed. They should get to the counter within stipulated time to get their refund.

Cancellation of tickets and refund will be permitted only on completely confirmed PRS counter tickets rather than in case of late running of trains of trains or cancellation.

While refund of the amount could be collected only in the journey, online cancellation or cancellation through 139 will be allowed only up to four hours prior to the scheduled departure of the train -commencing station on nearby satellite PRS locations defined by Zonal Railways.

Passengers may also cancel affirmed tickets by sending train number and PNR number to 139. User will get an OTP number, which must be input into for cancelling tickets.

Refund may be maintained during the initial two hours of the opening of the PRS counters about another day for the tickets for the trains whose scheduled departure time is between 1801 hrs and 0600 hrs. For trains whose scheduled departure time is is between 0601 hrs and 1800 hrs, refund can be maintained up to four hours after the scheduled departure of the train through the working hours of the PRS counters where cancellation is permitted round the clock.

This facility will likely be available only to those passengers who’ve furnished their mobile numbers at the time of booking the ticket. Additionally, no refund will be given following the expiry of the stipulated time limit.

IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Dr. A. K. Manocha said such a facility would immensely help passengers in cancelling their confirmed tickets and getting refund.

There are times when passengers believe it is almost impossible to reach counters inside the stipulated time and cancel their tickets. Now cancellation is a phone call away and passengers do for doing so, n’t need to race,” he added.

IRCTC will introduce a fresh page on its website (www.irctc.co.in) without any login for cancellation of counter tickets. They need to input PNR number and train number on the web site along with captcha code. An OTP will soon be sent to the passenger on his mobile number for cancellation. Refund amount may also be exhibited to the passenger on the website.

As for booking of railway tickets by international travellers, IRCTC will accept any international credit or debit card at its portal site through payment gateway given by Atom Technologies.

“Any debit or credit card will probably be allowed for ticket. At present, only American Express international credit cards are accepted at the IRCTC portal site,” Dr. Manocha said.

“This facility will help 3.56 lakh registered international users and NRIs who want to reserve tickets for themselves or for their family members in India,” he pointed out.

Initially, this facility WOn’t be applicable to premium and Tatkal train tickets. Also, booking through international cards will soon be around at least two days in advance of the journey date.