MP asked for account of Railways’ earnings, why were they upset with the government’s answer?

CPM MP John Brittas in Parliament sought annual details of Railways’ earnings from tatkal charges, premium tatkal charges, ticket cancellations and flexi fares. Information was also sought about how much revenue was received in each category. The CPM MP alleges that the government refused to provide category and year-wise information, whereas the same information was provided in 2023. He also posted the reply he received in 2023 on his X account.

John Brittas wrote, ‘In 2023, Railways had admitted that it had overcharged passengers by Rs 12,128 crore through flexi fare, Tatkal and Premium Tatkal. In the same reply, it was also revealed that Rs 7,674.63 crore more had been deposited under ‘Miscellaneous Coaching Receipts’. Cancellation charge was also included in this. Now when the updated figures were asked for in 2026, the government refused to provide the information making the excuse that the figures are part of the entire pool of revenue.

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John Brittas further wrote, ‘If ever a collection were made of the most clever ways of evading parliamentary accountability, today’s reply would undoubtedly deserve to be included as a fine example. Why so much secrecy? What is being hidden?’

What did the government tell three years ago?

According to the government’s reply given in 2023, in 2018-19, Railways earned Rs 930 crore from flexi fare, Rs 629 crore from premium Tatkal and Rs 1459 crore from Tatkal. In 2019-20, there was an income of Rs 823 crore from Flexi Fare, Rs 586 crore from Premium Tatkal and Rs 1477 crore from Tatkal. Income decreased due to Corona in 2020-21.

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Flexi fare earned Rs 365 crore, Premium Tatkal earned Rs 118 crore and Tatkal earned Rs 349 crore. In 2021-22, this earning was Rs 574, 267 and 915 crore respectively. From 2022 to February 2023, flexi fare generated revenue of Rs 1100 crore, Premium Tatkal generated Rs 799 crore and Tatkal generated Rs 1737 crore.