Man’s fight to get Rs 35 refund on cancelled railway ticket benefits 300k

A Kota-based man has won his five-year fight to get a Rs 35 refund from the Railways, helping in the process nearly 3 lakh people who were in a similar situation.

The Railways has approved Rs 2.43 crore in refunds to 2.98 lakh IRCTC users — many of whom might have brought multiple tickets, according to an RTI reply received by Kota-based engineer Sujeet Swami.

Swami said he filed nearly 50 Right to Information applications and shot off letters to four government departments in his fight to get back Rs 35 charged as service tax despite cancelling his ticket before the GST regime was implemented.