New Delhi, January 5:  In its endeavour to provide passengers a hassle free train journey, the Indian Railways has developed and operationalised a mechanism for monitoring Tatkal tickets for all passengers. Tatkal bookings was introduced by Indian Railways in 1997 to provide passengers with ticket services mainly during the time of an emergency situation.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) helps passengers with tatkal booking service through online mode.  There are cancellation charges and refund rules that every passenger has to know. There are various ways to book a tatkal ticket. Individuals can book tickets at the railway ticket counter window and also by online booking method through IRCTC. It has to be noted that any individual booking Tatkal ticket has to pay the Tatkal ticket charges for bookings under this facility.

There are certain rules that every individual should know about Tatkal Ticket Booking.

  1. The important rule is that a maximum of only four passengers per PNR can be booked for Tatkal tickets. As far as Tatkal charges are concerned, the Tatkal ticket charges are fixed as a percentage of fare.

  2. As per details on the Indian Railways website, the charges are at the rate of 10 per cent of basic fare for second class and 30 per cent of basic fare for all other classes subject to minimum and maximum as given here below.

  3. Individuals will not get any refund on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal tickets

  4. No cancellation is allowed on a Tatkal ticket. A Tatkal ticket is treated as a confirm ticket when reservation has been provided to RAC or a waitlisted ticket holder at any time up till the final passenger chart is up

  5. Passengers are eligible to get a full refund on the tickets booked under Tatkal scheme if the train is delayed by more than three hours at the originating point and if the train is to run on a diverted route and passenger is not willing to travel.

  6. As per the IRCTC website, if the person is not willing to travel, then he/she has to file Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) with a proper reason for claiming refund.

  7. As per details on the IRCTC's website - irctc.co.in, refund for RAC or waitlisted Tatkal tickets will be made if the ticket is cancelled up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure.

It has to be noted that the tatkal ticket booking for AC classes open at 10 AM and for non-AC classes at 11 AM. The ticket has to be booked a day in advance of actual date of journey. Like for instance, if an individual has to travel on the 19th, the Tatkal booking will commence at 10 am for AC classes on 18th and at 11 am for non-AC classes.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 05, 2018 09:21 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).