The Indian Railways has ended the discounted tickets for other customers, such as elderly people, for the time being. Disability and student discounts would continue to be offered by national transportation provider, though. 38 of 53 travel ticket discounts formerly granted to travellers by the Ministry of Railways have been removed, according to a Mathrubhumi study. Concessions are now available for just fifteen categories, four of which are for the differently-abled (Divyangjan) and the other eleven are for students, sick and others.
According to the article, patients with cancer, renal disease, and non-infectious leprosy will be eligible for reductions of up to 100% in the patient category. A discount in Sleeper Class and AC Class will be offered to those accompanying the sufferer. Senior people are among those who have had their concessions revoked, but their certified lower berth status will not be altered.
In March of last year, the concession was revoked for all travelers save those listed above, citing the pandemic and covid-19 guidelines. Even when the COVID-19 shutdown period was over and trains returned to regular operation, the rail ticket concessions that had been in place prior to that time were not reinstated. In the opinion of the ministry, it was not possible to bring back the discounted train fares.
The information was provided by Ashwini Vaishnav, Minister of Railways, Communication, Electronics and Information Technology at the present Winter Session of Parliament, according to The Mint.
Some travelers’ concessionary tariffs for all classes will not yet be reinstated as the Union Minister announced because of pandemic and protocol concerns, according to the magazine.
