Earning of Rs 5800 crore in 4 years, extra income for the government due to this decision of Railways.

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.

Also read- Affordable package of IRCTC, travel by train, food, stay, everything for Rs 1750 per day, you can travel even if you do not have money.

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In this context, Gaur said that instead of making any new offer, the present government has only withdrawn the concessions, hence this shows that before Covid-19, more concessions were being given on the purchase of train tickets than Rs 55.

.

Tags: Business news in hindi, Indian railway, Indian Railway news, Vande Bharat Trains