IRCTC Earned Rs. 63 Crores as Convenience Fee in September and due to that RTI Shows Query

Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) has earned more than Rs. Rs 63 million of the convenience fee in September, a RTI consultation revealed. The central government had decided to eliminate the service fee in the electronic ticket reservation three years ago to promote digital transactions. Before that, the government was charging Rs. 20 per ticket in the category without air conditioning and Rs 40 per ticket on tickets with air conditioning.

Challenging the decision, the IRCTC imposed the convenience fee from September 1 of this year. From then on, Rs. 15 in no AC and Rs. 30 air-conditioned tickets are charged. In addition, this convenience rate also attracts GST.

The right to information activist, Chandrashekhar Gaur, presented a consultation with the IRCTC under the Law, asking how much was collected as a service fee for electronic ticket reservations between September 1 and 30. The information provided by the IRCTC to Gaur had mentioned the convenience fee instead of the service fee. According to IRCTC data, Rs. 63.05 million rupees were received at the convenience rate. However, it was not mentioned that the total amount was collected from the electronic reservation.

Interestingly, the IRCTC has given Gaur three answers for his only query. The first response came on October 22 that said that Indian Railways does not charge a service fee, instead, the IRCTC has imposed a convenience fee since September 1, according to which a total of 51.69 million rupees were received.