Rail passengers will continue to enjoy service charge exemption on online booking of train tickets till March 2018. To encourage digital modes of booking, the government had waived off service charges after demonetisation in November, 2016. The facility had been extended to June 30th and then September 30th, which has now been extended till March 2018.
The service charges on booking train tickets online ranges from Rs. 20 to 40 per ticket. The Railway Board on September 29th, directed the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the ticketing agency of the railways, to extend the benefits till March, next year. According to reports, about 33% of IRCTC’S revenue in 2016 was generated from service charges.
