New Refund Rules 2026: Indian Railways has introduced revised refund guidelines for confirmed train tickets. Under the new rules, cancellations made between 24 and 72 hours before the scheduled departure will incur a 25% deduction on the ticket fare. However, no refund will be provided if the ticket is cancelled within 8 hours of departure.
New Cancellation & Refund Rules 2026: Key highlights you should know
- For confirmed tickets cancelled more than 72 hours before departure, passengers will receive the maximum possible refund, with only a minimal flat cancellation fee per person deducted.
- If a confirmed ticket is cancelled between 72 hours and 24 hours before departure, a standard penalty of 25% of the fare (subject to a minimum charge) will apply.
- For cancellations made between 24 hours and up to 8 hours before departure, 50% of the fare will be deducted, subject to the minimum charge.
- No refund will be issued if a confirmed ticket is cancelled less than 8 hours before the train’s departure.
Refund rules for both PRS counter tickets and e-tickets have also been revised.
Passengers earlier had to cancel tickets only at the originating or terminating station, but now cancellations can be done over the counter at any station.
For e-tickets, passengers previously needed to manually file a Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR). This requirement has now been removed, and refunds are processed automatically without any action from the passenger.
In addition, Indian Railways introduced several updates to its ticket booking system last year. From October 1, 2025, Aadhaar authentication became mandatory for passengers booking reserved tickets under the general quota through the IRCTC website or mobile app during the first 15 minutes of the booking window.
This step was taken to ensure genuine users benefit from the system and to prevent misuse by unauthorized agents.
Earlier, from July 1, 2025, Aadhaar verification was also made compulsory for Tatkal bookings, which can now be done only via the IRCTC website or mobile application.
Additionally, authorized railway ticketing agents are restricted from booking Tatkal tickets during the initial 30 minutes of the booking window – between 10:00 am and 10:30 am for AC classes, and 11:00 am to 11:30 am for non-AC classes.