Buying tickets from railway ticket booking website IRCTC soon can be expensive. Indian Railways has decided to revive the service charge. It was withdrawn 3 years ago by the Modi government to Increase digital payments.
The Railway Board has approved how the service charge will be levied for Purchasing tickets online. In a letter sent on 3 August, the board said that IRCTC has advocated restoring the service charge. This will be applied on the online booking of e-tickets. The competent authority will decide on this.
The Finance Ministry had asked for the removal of the service charge in a temporary manner. Therefore, the Ministry of Railways can start charging it again. The Railway Board letter states that on the advice of the Finance Ministry, the competent authority has decided that IRCTC may consider re-imposing or bringing in the constitution fee and service charge. How much will be charged in this, it can also be decided.
According to officials, IRCTC's income from Internet ticketing had dropped by 26 percent since the withdrawal of the service charge. IRCTC charges a service charge of Rs 20 for sleeper class and Rs 40 for AC tickets. Now the decision of IRCTC is whether it maintains this charge or increases it.
The Railway Ministry had suffered a loss of Rs 88 crore due to the removal of the service charge. Which he sought from the Finance Ministry. The Ministry of Finance has given permission to the Railway Ministry to levy this charge.
