Indian Railways doubles no-refund window to 8 hrs

INdian Railways has tightened its fine cancellation rules crosswise the room, double the no-refund window and extending percentage-based penalties to cancellations made before than before — a restructuring the government said was aimed at eliminating the financial incentive that allows touts to hold and offload tickets at inflated prices at the last moment.The new structure of cancellations penalties was announced by Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday.The most significant change is the no-refund window, which doubles from four hours before departure to eight. Under the existing rules gazetted in 2015, an unsold tickets could be cancelled within four hours of departure with 50% of the fare forfeited. That window now closes at eight hours.The change is designed to compress the window in which holding multiple tickets and then cancelling remains financially attractive. “To control misuse and ensure that genuine passengers benefit, these reforms have been brought,” Vaishnaw said, noting that touts routinely book multiple tickets and cancel unsold ones closer to departure, recovering a significant portion of the fare under existing rules.“If a ticket is cancelled within eight hours of departure, no refund is permitted. This is to end the incentive for last-minute black marketing, where people are ready to pay any price,” he said.The changes carry over to the entire penalty slab structure. Under current rules, passengers pay only a flat cancellation fee — ₹240 for AC First and Executive Class, ₹200 for AC 2-Tier, ₹180 for AC 3-Tier and Chair Car, ₹120 for Sleeper and ₹60 for Second Class — if they cancel more than 48 hours before departure.Under the new rules, that flat-fee threshold moves to 72 hours, giving people one less day to cancel their tickets with minimal penalty. A passenger cancelling 60 hours before departure — comfortably within the penalty-free window today — will now lose 25% of the fare.The intermediate slabs shift by the same margin. The 25% deduction, currently applicable between 48 and 12 hours before departure, will now apply between 72 and 24 hours. The 50% slab moves from the current 12-to-4-hour window to 24-to-8-hours.The new rules will be implemented in phases between April 1 and April 15, 2026.Vaishnaw also announced two flexibility measures. Boarding station changes will now be permitted up to 30 minutes before departure through digital means, against the current rule allowing this only before chart preparation — a restriction that has disadvantaged passengers in cities served by multiple stations. Class upgrades for counter tickets will similarly be allowed up to 30 minutes before departure.The Railways said it had deactivated 30 million suspicious user IDs as part of its ongoing crackdown on agents and touts hoarding tickets.