Service charge exemption on railway e-ticket extended till June 30

The service charge exemption on railway tickets booked online has been extended till June 30.

In order to help passengers and incentivise payments made through digital modes for booking of reserved tickets, service charge on online booking of tickets was withdrawn for the tickets booked from November 23, 2016 to March 31, 2017.

"We have received instructions from the Ministry of Information and Technology advising the railways to extend the incentives at least till June 30, 2017," said a Railway Ministry official.

Service charges on booking train tickets online through IRCTC ranges from Rs 20 to 40 per ticket.

The government waived the service charges after demonetisation in November last year to encourage digital modes of booking.

Approximately, an amount of Rs 184 crore has not been realised from passengers on account of service charge and service tax thereon on reserved tickets booked online from November 23, 2016 to February 28, 2017, according to railways data.