Fine for late train? How much IRCTC paid passengers for Tejas Express train delays

New Delhi: The Indian Railways in 2019 announced that Tejas Express was India’s first privately owned and operated train completely overseen by the IRCTC, the government-owned railways-focused PSU. IRCTC said it paid over Rs 26 lakh fine to passengers to compensate for Tejas’ train delays. The scheme, which was started in 2019, was closed by IRCTC in February 2024, it said in response to an RTI query.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation or IRCTC is an undertaking of the Indian Railways. The listed company offers train and tourism packages and also operates a ticketing platform which offers a range of travel-related services at competitive rates. The total compensation quoted above was paid between October 4, 2019 and February 16, 2024.

How much fine paid for Tejas Express delays by IRCTC?

The IRCTC paid a compensation worth Rs 15.65 lakh crore to passengers in 2023-24 for delays in the operation of the Tejas Express train. In the year 2022-23, IRCTC compensated passengers for Tejas Express train delays to the tune of Rs 7.74 lakh, it said in response to an RTI query by news agency PTI. The railway PSU paid passengers Rs 96,000 for train delays in the operation of the Tejas Express superfast train. Surprisingly, no compensation was paid in 2020-21, indicating that there were either no such delays or services may have been disrupted on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the scheme’s inaugural year, IRCTC paid Rs 1,78,000 in fines to compensate passengers for delays in the operation of Tejas Express trains. IRCTC broke down these numbers in granular details to share that passengers were paid Rs 100 to passengers for a 60-120 minute delay and Rs 250 per passenger for delays in the 120-240 minute range. Passengers were also provided refreshments during train delays.

Passengers were entitled to a full fare refund if the train was cancelled, IRCTC said in its RTI response.

IRCTC train delay fine discontinued

Without sharing the reason behind discontinuing this feature, which ensures commitment to customer satisfaction, IRCTC announced that the service was discontinued in February 2024. “The scheme providing compensation in case of delay or delay in running of private trains was discontinued on February 15, 2024,” IRCTC said in its RTI response. IRCTC clarified that the scheme was launched as part of its marketing strategy to entice passengers to travel by the Tejas Express train.

All about India’s first privately-run Tejas Express trains

The IRCTC operates Tejas Express trains on two routes, namely, New Delhi to Lucknow and Ahmedabad to Mumbai.

IRCTC New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express

The IRCTC Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express was started on October 4, 2019. IRCTC New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express train starts from New Delhi at 3:40 pm and reaches Lucknow at 10:05 pm.

IRCTC New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express route

The train starts from Lucknow at 6:10 am and reaches New Delhi by 12:35 pm.

IRCTC Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express train started its journey on January 17, 2020. The train starts from Mumbai at 3:55 pm and reaches Ahmedababd in Gujarat at 10:30 pm. The train starts from Ahmedabad at 6:40 am and reaches Mumbai at 1:05 pm.

IRCTC Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express route