The Indian Railways is also implementing a change that is beneficial to shareholders: starting January 2026, customers can reschedule their confirmed train tickets online without incurring any cancellation fees. So far, whenever you needed to adjust your travel date, you had to cancel your ticket, deduct the money, and rebook. This revamp will come in the form of the web portal and mobile application of IRCTC.
The move was confirmed by the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who said that the adjustments of the ticket would become easier and travellers would save on the losses. You will no longer have to cancel and rebook any more, but simply make a new selection of a date. This will, of course, depend on the availability of seats. In case the price of the new date is higher, you will pay only the difference. In case it is the same or less, no additional fee will be levied.
Currently, cancellation charges are consuming a portion of your fare, depending on the time of cancellation. A 2 per cent reduction is charged in case of a confirmed ticket cancelled between 48 and 12 hours before travel. The closer to departure, the higher that deduction, as high as 50 per cent in case of cancellation immediately before the chart is prepared. There are a lot of losses that can be prevented with the new rescheduling option.
The system will be connected to the central reservation system of IRCTC on a real-time basis. You will enter into an account, access your booking history and select a booked ticket, and enter a new date to travel. The system will automatically check the availability of seats and impose any necessary fare difference. No cancellations, no lineups, no representatives.
This is one of the wider initiatives by Indian Railways to digitalise its operations and make passenger services more dynamic. Some of the recent changes already involve Aadhaar authentication as a prerequisite in the early booking windows, and the reservation period also dropped to 60 days rather than 120 days in order to enhance precision in bookings.
As much as the plan is promising, there are a couple of caveats. You are not sure of your new date getting a confirmed seat. Furthermore, one can only reschedule confirmed tickets and not waitlist or RAC. Once IRCTC implements it, passengers should like the launch dates and fine print as well.
When applied appropriately, it may become one of the most passenger-focused ticketing reforms in recent history. It would make the process of rescheduling less painful financially and make people more flexible in their methods of planning their journeys.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
