The Railways permit refund on cancellation of unused and partially used tickets after deduction of cancellation charges. You can claim refund on unreserved, reserved, waitlisted , RAC as well as on partially used tickets. However, you must remember that your ticket should be surrendered within a prescribed time frame vis a vis the scheduled/actual departure time of the train. Depending on these time frames, a specified amount or a percentage of fare will be deducted as cancellation charge. These are spelt out in greater detail in the following table. 

1. Do not count the date of journey while calculating the time frame for surrendering ticket prior to and after departure of the train
2. Cancellation charge is calculated on the fare which includes supplementary charge and reservation fee and Safety Surcharge in case of totally unused ticket.
3. For night trains departing between 21:00 hrs and 06:00 hours (actual departure) refund shall be granted at the station, either within the time limit specified above or within 4 hours of the opening of the reservation offices whichever is later.
4. At computerized reservation offices which close at 20:00 hrs passengers can obtain refund on current day untravelled tickets from the booking offices within the stipulated time
5. Conductor or TTE of the coach shall issue a certificate (COM-P-44)/Free excess fare ticket to the passengers who cannot travel holding a PNR ticket for more passengers or traveling in lower class holding higher class ticket. Refund will be granted based on these certificates which should be issued on a machine number form available with Conductor/TTE. No refund is granted on the basis of endorsement made by Condctor/TTE on the journey ticket itself, but TDR may be issued to the passenger from the station within 30 days.
6. No refund shall be granted of safety surcharge in case of partially used ticket.

• You may have reserved tickets where some passengers are waitlisted and others confirmed. If such tickets are cancelled, within 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train and up to 3 hours after the actual departure of the train full refund will be given on confirmed passengers as well as waitlisted passengers. Only a nominal clerkage of Rs.20/- per passenger will be deducted.
• If you know before the commencement of your journey that less number of persons will be travelling on a combined ticket than originally booked you can claim refund for the passengers not travelling on that ticket. To get this refund you should surrender the original combined ticket at the station. You will then be given refund and the free excess fare ticket (EFT) for the remaining passengers who would be travelling.
• If you could not claim refund before the commencement of your journey, you should approach Train Conductor/ TTE. After making necessary endorsement on the ticket and the reservation chart, he will issue the free excess fare ticket which can be used to claim refunds for the passengers who have not travelled. You should claim your refund at the destination within 20 hours after the arrival of the train. Beyond this time limit you should apply to the Chief Comml Manager (Refund) of the ticket issuing railway.

Refund On Cancellation Of Journey- Altered Ticket 
If you have either preponed or postponed your journey date, upgraded from a lower class to a higher class or changed to another train and subsequently cancelled your ticket refund will be granted after retaining two sets of cancellation charges. 

These will be calculated by

1. treating the journey alteration as a fresh cancellation
2. treating the altered reservation as a fresh reservation.

Refund On Lost / Misplaced / Torn / Mutilated Tickets

• No refund is permitted on lost/misplaced tickets. Please inform the nearest reservation office immediately about the loss of your ticket so that action can be taken to prevent fraudulent refund on such tickets.
• Refund on torn/mutilated tickets shall be admissible after deduction of due cancellation charge provided authenticity of such tickets can be verified from it.

Issue Of Duplicate Ticket In Lieu Of Lost / Misplaced / Torn / Mutilated Tickets
 
Charges for issue of duplicate ticket before preparation of reservation chart.

• Duplicate tickets shall be issued on collection of only the prescribed non refundable clerkage charge per passenger.

Charge for issue of duplicate ticket after preparation of reservation chart will be as under

1. 50% of the total fare in case of lost / misplaced reserved tickets
2. No duplicate ticket will be issued in case of lost / misplaced RAC ticket
3. 25% of the total fare in case of lost / torn / mutilated reserved / RAC tickets
4. No duplicate tickets will be issued in case of lost / misplaced / torn / mutilated waitlisted tickets

Refund On Duplicate Ticket

• If lost tickets are traced subsequently and presented along with the duplicate ticket before departure of the train, passenger will be entitled to a refund of the amount paid for the duplicate ticket. However 5% of the total amount will be deducted subject to a minimum of Rs.20/-. In case the journey is not undertaken the cancellation charges on the original tickets shall be determined as provided under rules.
• If you have paid excess charges on train on account of your reserved/RAC ticket being lost / misplaced / torn / mutilated you may apply to the Chief Comml Manager (Refunds) of the ticket issuing Zonal railway for granting of refund of the charges paid on train. The Railway administration may after making such enquiry as deemed necessary grant refund of total charges realised on the train, after deducting the cancellation charges of 50% of the total fare provided no one has taken refund earlier on the original ticket.

Refund On Tickets Booked Against Military/Other Forces Warrants 
Military personnel who cancel tickets issued against military concessional voucher which is partly paid in cash and partly paid through voucher given by the Defence Authorities , will be given refund for the cash portion only. The refund will be granted after deduction of due cancellation charges at the station itself. As regards the voucher portion necessary credit will be given to the Defence Authorities . In respect of tickets issued against military warrant, fully paid by the Defence Authorities, military personnel should cancel the reservation and surrender the tickets at the station and obtain a Ticket Deposit Receipt and apply for refund to CCM (Refunds) of TDR issuing Zonal Railway. Such military personnel should submit a formal claim letter for refund including CDA particulars original passenger foil of warrant and original ticket (if available) along with the TDR and name of station where the warrant was exchanged.


Refund On Tickets Purchased On Credit Cards 
Tickets purchased on credit cards can be cancelled and Credit Slip /Charge Slip obtained only at such reservation offices where credit card counters exists. If you need to cancel your tickets at other stations where such counters are not available, please cancel your reservation and obtain a Ticket Deposit Receipt and then apply to CCM (Refunds) of the ticket issuing Zonal Railway.


Refund On Tatkal Tickets 
A flat refund of 25 % of total fare charged on the ticket excluding Tatkal charges may be granted on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal tickets, which are presented for cancellation up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train. Thereafter no refund is permitted on confirmed reservation made under Tatkal scheme of reservation except when the Railways are not able to provide the Tatkal coach on trains for any reason.


REFUND ON TICKETS PURCHASED ON Internet 
Ticket purchased on INTERNET can be cancelled through the PRS system where such counters exist. If you need to cancel your tickets at other station where such counters are not available, please cancel your reservation and obtain a Ticket Deposit Receipt and then apply to IRCTC of TDR issuing zonal Railway.


Refund On Computerised Unreserved Tickets 
If any passenger wants to cancel the ticket for any reason, this can be done within 2 hours from the time of issue of ticket on realization of clerkage charge, which is Rs.10/- at present for second class ordinary in case of suburban tickets. 

In case of non suburban tickets, cancellation will be allowed up to 3 hours after departure of the last train for the destination for which ticket has been issued. Clerkage charge of Rs.10/- will be realised


Refund Of Security Deposited For Booking Of Special Coaches And Train

• Claim for refund of Security Deposit should be made at the journey originating station within 15 days of completion of the tour along with all original documents such as Special Ticket, CPTM’s letter , Folder, Money Receipt etc.
• If the claim is submitted after 15 days of the completion of the tour and within 6 months 50% refund can be granted subject to approval of CCM.
• No refund shall be permitted if the folder is deposited after six months.
• In absence of original folder no refund shall be permitted. 

WHERE CAN YOU GET YOUR REFUND ?

• Spot Refund 
  There is an across-the-counter refund done at any Booking Office/Reservation Office of a station including refund granted under the discretionary power of the Station Manager/Chief Reservation Supervisor
• Through Station Pay Order to be exchanged at a station 
  In case you reside within the jurisdiction of the concerned zonal Railway, you shall receive your refund through a Station Pay Order issued by CCM (Refunds), provided the refund is within Rs. 3,000/- only. This station pay order can be encashed by you at the nominated station after production of proof of identity like voter’s identity card, ration card, driving license, passport etc. You can also encash them through a representative provided he is given an appropriate authorisation.
• By Crossed Cheque 
  In case the amount of refund exceeds Rs. 3000/-, or if you reside outside the jurisdiction of concerned zonal Railway, or on your specific demand made in writing, your refund will be sent through crossed cheque.
• Spot Refund Through PRS Counter 
  Recently spot refund to the passenger has been introduced through PRS Counter (Specific) over S. E. zone on the basis of Exceptional Data Report (EDR). In such cases, passengers are to approach for refund within 5 days at the nominated reservation offices. Refund is granted if the EDR has been input in the system correctly in the nominated trains. In such cases refund will be granted particularly to the passengers only on production of I/Card, not to the representative of the passengers.