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When we plan a trip for the festive season, summer vacations or any important family work, the first and foremost step is to get a confirmed train ticket. Often people are in such a hurry while booking tickets that they ignore the basic information and important options while filling the form. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has warned passengers that a small carelessness during booking can not only snatch away your confirmed seat, but can also get your journey canceled midway during checking at the station and you may also have to pay a heavy fine.
Lakhs of people book tickets daily on IRCTC website and mobile app. In such a situation, lack of correct knowledge of the rules and technical conditions of the system becomes costly for the passengers. If you too are planning a train journey in the coming days, never forget to double-check these important points before visiting the payment gateway.
The most common mistakes while filling the ticket booking form are in the spelling of the passenger’s name, gender and age. Many times people enter a colloquial surname or short name, which does not match with their Aadhar Card, PAN Card or Voter ID. Under Railway rules, if there is a major difference between the name recorded on the ticket and the name on the original government identity card shown at the time of journey, the ticket checking staff (TTE) may consider the ticket ‘invalid’.
In such a situation, the passenger may be treated as without ticket and a penalty and full fare may be recovered from him, or in case of serious discrepancy, he may be deboarded from the train. Therefore, while filling the passenger details, always keep in front the identity card which you are going to carry during the journey.
It is often seen that the ticket is booked from a main station (like New Delhi or Howrah), but the passenger wants to catch the train from a suburban or small station en route. If you have not selected your ‘Boarding Station’ correctly while booking the ticket, the TTE may allot your seat to a waitlisted passenger one or two stations next to your scheduled boarding station.
When you board the train from a later station, your seat will already be given to another passenger and you will lose the seat despite having a valid ticket. IRCTC now allows changing the boarding station online before charting, but the safest way is to choose the correct station at the time of booking.
While booking tickets on the IRCTC portal, there are two extremely useful checkboxes which passengers often leave unnoticed or tick wrongly:
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Auto-Upgradation: By checking this box, if seats remain vacant in a higher class (e.g. Sleeper to Third AC, or Third AC to Second AC), your ticket is upgraded to the higher class without any extra charges. It is always beneficial to keep it ‘Yes’.
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Book only if confirm berths are allotted: If you are traveling with family or elders and do not want a waiting ticket at all, then definitely choose this option. Due to this, if you do not get a confirmed seat, your money will not get stuck and the ticket will be directly rejected and full refund will be given in your bank account.
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Seat Preference (Lower / Middle / Upper Berth): Always choose ‘Lower Berth’ priority for senior citizens or pregnant women. However, remember that this is only a preference, the system allots seats based on availability.
Railway rules regarding online booked e-tickets are very clear and strict. If your online ticket remains in ‘Waiting List’ (WL) even after chart preparation, that ticket is auto-cancelled by the system and its refund is sent to your bank account.
It is illegal to travel in any reserved compartment (Sleeper or AC Coaches) on such canceled waiting e-ticket. If any passenger is found traveling in the reserved coach on the basis of printout of waiting e-ticket, the TTE can immediately remove him from the compartment and he will be fined. Only physical waiting ticket purchased from the Railway Counter (PRS Counter) is considered valid, whereby the passenger can travel only if a vacant seat is found with the permission of the General Coach or TTE.
Seconds matter while booking tickets in Tatkal or premium Tatkal quota. IRCTC has advised that before opening the booking window, keep a ‘Master List’ ready in your profile, so that the details of the passengers are already safe and the form can be filled in one click.
Also, always enter your correct and active mobile number in the passenger form. All important SMS related to change in train timing, platform number, train diversion or cancellation are sent by Railways to the same number. If an incorrect number is entered, you may not be notified of any unexpected travel changes and your entire itinerary may be affected. Taking a few seconds to check the details wisely and cautiously can save you from major problems down the road.