New Delhi. Questions asked under the Right to Information (RTI) Act have revealed that Indian Railways has earned additional revenue of more than Rs 5,800 crore from senior citizens since the withdrawal of concessions given to senior citizens in train fares. On March 20, 2020, after the nationwide lockdown was announced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Railway Ministry had withdrawn the concession given to senior citizens in train fares. Till that time, Railways used to give 50 percent discount in train fare to women passengers and 40 percent to male and transgender senior citizens. After the removal of this exemption, senior citizens have to pay the same fare as other passengers. As per railway norms, men and transgenders aged 60 years and above and women aged 58 years and above are considered senior citizens.
The picture regarding the situation after the end of the concession in passenger fare given to the elderly has become clear from the answers received on some RTI applications. Madhya Pradesh resident Chandra Shekhar Gaur has filed applications under the RTI Act at different times and has obtained information that from March 20, 2020 to January 31, 2024, Railways has earned additional revenue of more than Rs 5,875 crore under this head.
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Found out from 3 different applications
Gaur said, “I filed three applications under the RTI Act. In the first application, the Railways provided me with additional revenue data from March 20, 2020 to March 31, 2022. In the second application, data from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023 was revealed. Whereas from the third application filed in February 2024, I got details from April 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024.”
Sharing copies of these RTI replies with PTI, he said, “Railways has given data on the basis of year and gender. With the help of these we can easily find out the additional revenue collected by the Railways from March 20, 2020 to January 31, 2024.'' These copies show that in a period of about four years, about 13 crore men, nine crore Women and 33,700 transgender senior citizens made train journeys giving a total revenue of about Rs 13,287 crore.
Gaur said, “Calculating the concession of 50 per cent for women and 40 per cent concession for male and transgender senior citizen passengers implemented earlier, this amount comes to more than Rs 5,875 crore.” Questions related to reinstatement after its abolition have been raised at various forums including both the Houses of Parliament.
Railways gives subsidy on fare
However, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, without giving any direct answer to this, had said that Indian Railways gives 55 percent discount on train fare to every railway passenger. Vaishnav had said in a press conference in January 2024, 'If the price of a train ticket to a destination is Rs 100, then the Railways is charging only Rs 45 from the passenger. In this way, it is giving a concession of Rs 55 on the journey.
In this context, Gaur said that instead of making any new offer, the present government has only withdrawn the concessions, hence this shows that before Covid-19, more concessions were being given on the purchase of train tickets than Rs 55.
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Tags: Business news in hindi, Indian railway, Indian Railway news, Vande Bharat Trains
FIRST PUBLISHED : April 2, 2024, 08:16 IST