Indian Railways to restore fare concession for senior citizens? Here's a fact check

After a few media reports claimed that the Indian Railways will restore fare concessions for senior citizens, it has now been fact-checked that the information is false. A section of media had published reports that Indian Railways has decided to resume concession for senior citizens with effect from July 1. 

It has now been clarified that the Indian Railways has not made any such official announcement as of now. Its official Twitter handle shared a tweet by the fact check team of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) which claims the report of fare concession is factually incorrect. 

In the month of May, Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw had confirmed at an event that the concession for senior citizens will not be resumed as the Indian Railways is operating at a subsidised rate. While speaking to reporters, the Union Minister had said, “For every Rs 100 spent towards operational expenses, the Railways collects only Rs 45 from a passenger. We have to contribute to keeping the railways a sustainable mode of transport.”

Why were the concessions for senior citizens suspended? 

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) used to provide senior citizens with the benefit of availing concessions for travelling in the express trains across India. These concessions would help the elderly travel at nominal amounts and the chances of their ticket clearances and seat confirmations were higher than other citizens of India. The concessions were valid for Mail, Express, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi and Duronto group of trains.

Earlier, the concessional fares were rebated as 40 per cent for men and 50 per cent for women. Men over 60 years of age and women over 58 years of age were eligible for these discounts. However, it was suspended in March 2020, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.