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Crores of citizens travel by Indian Railways every day across the country. Be it a big junction like Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Patna or Bengaluru or any small station of the country, the first question that comes before every passenger before starting the journey is ticket booking. In the era of Digital India, where most of the people book tickets through IRCTC app from their smartphones, even today long queues are seen at the windows of railway reservation centres. Many passengers think that tickets purchased from both the places are the same and their rights are also the same, whereas the reality is completely different. There are many technical and legal rules between online e-ticket and PRS counter ticket, if ignored, the passenger may have to pay a heavy fine or may have to leave his pocket without travelling.
The biggest and most serious difference between the two mediums is regarding waiting list tickets. If you have purchased a sleeper or AC waiting class ticket from the PRS counter of the railway station and it is not confirmed even after chart preparation, that ticket is still considered valid. A passenger with a counter waiting ticket can board the train and approach the TTE in general or sleeper coach to request for a vacant seat and is not considered an unauthorized passenger. On the contrary, if you have booked an e-ticket through the IRCTC portal or app and it remains in the waiting list even after the chart is prepared, the Railways’ system automatically cancels that ticket. Traveling in a reserved compartment of a train on such a canceled e-ticket is considered completely illegal under the Railways Act. TTE can declare the passenger ticketless and charge heavy fine and also reserves the right to drop him at the next station.
There is a clear difference between online and offline tickets even at the fare level. When a passenger goes to the railway reservation counter and buys a ticket through cash, UPI or card, he only has to pay the base train fare, reservation fee and superfast surcharge. No additional convenience charge is deducted there. On the other hand, passengers are charged a convenience fee when booking tickets online through IRCTC website or third-party apps like Paytm, MakeMyTrip or Google Pay. This fee is usually around ₹15 to ₹20 for non-AC class and ₹30 to ₹40 for AC class, on which GST is also applicable. Apart from this, many payment gateways also add their own transaction charges. For solo travelers this difference may seem minor, but on a round-trip ticket for the entire family, this difference affects the budget.
In the process of canceling the ticket and getting its refund, the behavior of both the tickets completely changes. The biggest advantage of online tickets is that in case of journey cancellation, the passenger can cancel the ticket in one click from his mobile. After deducting the cancellation fee, the remaining amount is refunded within three to four working days directly to the passenger’s bank account, credit card or UPI wallet from which the payment was made. In case of counter tickets the process is complicated. To cancel a ticket purchased over the counter, the passenger has to compulsorily go to the nearest Railway Reservation Counter with the original ticket. Although Railways has introduced the partial facility of online cancellation of counter tickets, even under that process one has to visit the station counter within the stipulated time period to get the cash refund.
The rules for taking refund in unexpected circumstances like train delay, AC failure or route diversion are also different in both the systems. Easy facility to file TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) online is available on e-tickets booked from IRCTC after chart preparation or before train departure. The passenger can file TDR sitting at home by choosing the correct reason and after review by Railways, the refund gets credited to the account. Whereas in case of counter ticket, the passenger has to contact the station master or reservation supervisor and obtain the physical TDR receipt and then submit it by post or in person to the zonal railway office for settlement of claims. This entire process consumes a lot of time and labour.
In case of loss of paper ticket, the counter ticket holder has to go through a long process by paying additional fee to get a duplicate ticket made. If the counter ticket is lost before the train leaves, the journey becomes risky. In contrast, e-tickets are never lost; Only SMS, email or PDF copy present in the mobile is considered valid with any government identity card. Additionally, the facility to change the boarding station is available on the IRCTC app within seconds, whereas for changing boarding in a counter ticket, a written application is required at the station 24 hours before the departure of the train.
So, if there is every possibility of seat confirmation and saving time is a priority, then IRCTC online ticket is the best and safest option. But if there is a possibility of going on the seat waiting list and it is necessary to travel under any circumstances, then the ticket taken from the railway counter provides legal protection of the right to travel.