There are occasions when you try to book a ticket through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website which leads you to common issues like the tickets weren’t booked, but the money gets deducted from your bank account. Then you have to wait for days to get refunds which frustrates passengers.
However, IRCTC is making some changes to process refunds faster in cases where a ticket doesn’t get booked or you cancel your tickets.
India Today cited sources mentioning that the update is in the works, thanks to the initiative of IRCTC and the Centre for Railways Information Systems (CRIS).
The aim is to make the refund process smooth for all the situations and refund the amount within around an hour.
Slow refund is a huge problem in railways, and people have complained about it numerous times and expressed their frustration on social media.
The refund process is quite slow as of now. In case the booking fails, the IRCTC begins the refund the next day. It is sometimes delayed for several days depending on the method used.
The railway is looking to change the process and start working to make the refund process much faster. The change is important in this digital era, where systems are run with little or no human input.
However, the convenience fee that IRCTC charges while booking the ticket will not be refunded.
Why ask for refunds?
There are plenty of reasons why you can ask for refunds from the railways. It could be a booking issue, an unconfirmed ticker, a cancelled train, etc. If your train ever gets lost or your AC might not work, you avoid travelling.
In such cases, you can demand a refund through a Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) whether you decide to get it online or in person. According to the India Today report, the time taken to refund will be reduced in all sorts of TDR scenarios.
The report also claimed that the checking process will get faster. Inspectors use handheld devices to update information in the system. It will lead to faster refunds.
