IRCTC upgrades system for refunds into bank accounts

█ Booked train tickets through agents?

Agents can make refunds from their e-wallets to those who booked tickets until May

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has upgraded its system to facilitate credit of ticket refunds into bank accounts of passengers who had booked through authorised agents before the lockdown. While the Central and Western Railway have refunded nearly Rs 500 crore to over 60 lakh passengers who had booked tickets online or at booking counters, people who had used agents had been left in the lurch. The railways said it had refunded the fare but it was stuck in e-wallets of agents.

After dilly-dallying for over two months, the IRCTC’s IT department on Wednesday said the money in agents’ e-wallets – created under the recurring deposit scheme of the principal and retail agents – can now be transferred to passengers. “The agents can now transfer the money directly,” confirmed IRCTC spokesperson S Singh.

The IRCTC site allows bookings three months in advance. Until March, passengers had booked until May. However, when the lockdown was announced and inter-state travel was suspended indefinitely, passengers were asked to claim refunds. Those who had booked through agents complained of their money being stuck in e-wallets. Railway authorities, for their part, said they had made the payments and were trying to update the system for bank transfers.

N Mehta, a retail ticket agent said the people who couldn’t travel had been calling him incessantly. “From May 28, I will be able to pay them back from my e-wallet,” said Mehta, who has over Rs 7 lakh in his e-wallet.

As per procedure, retail rail agents deal with the principal agents who further coordinate ticketing with IRCTC, which is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways. On the IRCTC’s portal, there is an e-wallet created for every authorised agent. In case of cancellation, the IRCTC refunds money to the principal agent who then forwards it to the ewallet of a retail agent. This money can also be used for issuing tickets in the future.

Under normal circumstances if a few tickets get cancelled, agents can pay from their e-wallet kitty. However, the lockdown necessitated refunding every person who had booked the ticket. The agents didn’t have cash in hand to repay these clients. In this wrangle, those who will continue to suffer are the ones who booked through unauthorised agents.

The long wait

► March 22: Janta curfew was announced

► March 24: All trains were suspended and tickets booked were automatically cancelled

► March-end: Agents approached Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to address the issue of refund

► May 14:Railways announced refunds at ticket counters after submission of tickets upto 6 months from date of journey

► May 27:IRCTC rectified the glitch in the system, allowing agents to refund money to passengers