By Admin 
Lakhs and crores of people travel daily through the Indian Railways, which is called the lifeline of the country. For long distance journeys, train travel is cheaper than bus or flights. This is the reason why most people travel by trains only. Many times passengers do not get confirmed seats in the train, due to which they have to travel with RAC tickets. Let us tell you that in RAC ticket, the passenger gets half the seat. But now an important committee of the Parliament has now raised questions on the issue of charging full fare from passengers traveling on Reservation Against Cancellation i.e. RAC tickets during train journey. In fact, the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee called it unfair and advised the Railways to make such a system by which RAC passengers can get partial fare back.
Why is the full fare on RAC ticket in dispute?
Under the current system of Railways, full fare is charged from the passenger on booking RAC ticket. However, if the ticket is not confirmed even after chart preparation, then the passenger has to share the berth with another RAC passenger. That means two passengers pay the full fare, but both do not get the full berth. Whereas the Public Accounts Committee has clearly stated in its report Punctuality and Travel Time in Train Operations in Indian Railways that even after making the chart, if the passenger remains in RAC and does not get the full berth, then charging the full fare from him is not justified.
What did the parliamentary committee say to the Railways?
The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee asked the Railway Ministry to make a partial refund mechanism for such passengers. The Committee believes that this existing system does not do justice to the passengers. Besides, Railways has also been asked to inform what steps are being taken in this direction. Let us tell you that as per the current rules of IRCTC, if the RAC e-ticket is not canceled or the TDR is not filed till 30 minutes before the departure of the train, then the fare is not refunded. This means that even if a passenger does not get a full berth while travelling, no refund is given to him.
Question on category of superfast trains also
In the report, the committee has also expressed displeasure over the definition of superfast trains. PAC said that according to the rules decided in 2007, a train with an average speed of 55 kilometers per hour on broad gauge and 45 kilometers per hour on meter gauge is considered a superfast train. According to the committee, despite improvements in technology and infrastructure, these standards have become quite outdated today. It was told in the report that out of 478 superfast trains currently running, the rated speed of 123 trains is less than 55 kilometers per hour. The PAC even said that it seems that many trains have been kept in the superfast category just to charge higher fares. The committee believes that if the speed of a train falls below the prescribed standard, then it should be taken out of the superfast category and the fare should also be reduced accordingly.
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