Indian Railways New Rule: Advance reservation period cut from 120 to 60 days; check key details

The Indian Railways has decided to reduce the advance reservation period (ARP) for train bookings to 60 days from the previous 120 days, excluding the day of travel, an official press release dated October 16 said. The changes in time limit for advance reservations will come into effect from November 1, 2024.

Following this move, shares of state-owned Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd. were down by almost 3% on Thursday, October 17. The shares closed 2.41% down at ₹871.75. The central government holds more than 60% of the company's shares.

According to the press release posted on X by All India Radio News, the following rules will be applicable from November 1:

• With effect from 01.11.2024, the ARP will be of 60 days (excluding the day of journey) and bookings will be done accordingly. However, all the bookings done up to 31.10.2024 under the ARP of 120 days will remain intact.
• Cancellations of the booking made beyond the ARP of 60 days will, however, be permitted.
• There will be no change in the case of certain daytime express trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express, etc., where lower time limits for advance reservations are currently in force.
• There will also be no change in the case of a limit of 365 days for Foreign Tourists.

How will it impact IRCTC?

Almost 80-85% of IRCTC’s revenue comes from online ticket booking. This development may be negative for the company, and analysts believe that a shorter booking period could mean a lower spread, as per a Moneycontrol report.

IRCTC posted a 33% increase in net profit year-on-year (YoY) for the June quarter. Its revenue increased to ₹1,120.2 crore, an 11.8% growth YoY.

The company’s online ticketing business’s revenue increased to ₹329 crore from the previous year’s figure of ₹290 crore. However, this was a decrease from the ₹342 crore revenue it posted in the March quarter.

Last month, the Railway Ministry launched a ticket-checking drive for the festive period to discourage ticketless travel, according to a report by PTI.

The Ministry, on September 20, wrote a letter to the General Managers of 17 Zones asking them to start a special drive against ticketless and unauthorised travellers "for the period October 1 to 15 and October 25 to November 10" and take suitable action as per the provisions of the Railway Act of 1989.

Railway commercial officers, who are part of the ongoing regular drive in various rail divisions, say that along with common people, policemen will also be on their radar during the festive rush as they are among the top violators.