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There is often confusion regarding the rules for children’s tickets among crores of families traveling by Indian Railways. Many times, passengers unknowingly choose the wrong option while booking tickets, due to which they either have to pay unwanted full adult fare for children, or face huge inconvenience due to not getting a seat during the journey. According to the official guidelines of the Railway Board, children below 5 years of age travel completely free without a seat. Whereas children aged 12 years and above are considered as full adults and are charged full fare. The biggest problem is faced by the tickets of children aged between 5 years to less than 12 years (i.e. 5 to 11 years). As per Railway rules, the fare for children in this age group will be ‘Half’ or ‘Full’, depending entirely on whether you have asked for a separate seat/berth for them or not.
If you are traveling with a child aged between 5 to 12 years and you want the child to share your seat or berth, then you have to buy only a half fare ticket. In this option, Railways does not allot any separate seat or berth for the child. According to financial calculations, only 50 percent of the child’s base fare is charged in the half ticket, however, mandatory taxes like reservation fee, superfast charge and GST are included in full. This option proves to be extremely economical and suitable mainly for short distance journeys, chair car (CC/2S) journeys during the day, or when parents want their small child to sleep with them instead of sleeping in a berth alone at night.
If you want your child aged between 5 to 12 years to get a separate, independent seat or sleeper/AC berth in the train like adults, then you will have to pay the full adult fare (100% Adult Fare) as per the revised Railway rules. In this situation the child does not get any kind of fare discount and his ticket is processed like a normal adult passenger. Most families choose this option for long distance and overnight journeys, as an adult and a child of 8-10 years sleeping together on a narrow sleeper or AC berth makes the journey tiring and uncomfortable.
This option appears on the screen while filling passenger details while booking tickets through IRCTC online portal or Rail Connect mobile app. As soon as you enter the child’s age between 5 to 11 years, the system will immediately ask you: “Do you want a full berth?” (Do you want a full berth?). If you select ‘Yes’, the system will allot a separate berth for the child and add the total ticket bill equal to the full adult fare. If you choose ‘No’, the child’s name and age will be recorded on the ticket, but the berth will not be allotted and half fare will be charged. While filling the form even at the Railway Reservation Counter, it is mandatory to write ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in the ‘Berth Required’ column.
It is also important to know the rules for other age groups of Railways:
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Children under 5 years: Infants and children below 5 years of age travel 100% free in the train. However, for security and railway records, it is mandatory to add their name to the ticket at zero fare through ‘Add Infant Without Berth’ option on IRCTC.
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Children 12 years and older: Railways considers any child who has completed 12 years of age as a legal adult. There is no provision for half tickets for them; They are compulsorily given full seat/berth and charged full fare.
When traveling on half ticket or with children below 5 years of age, valid age proof of the child may be asked by TTE during checking. For this, parents should keep the original or digital copy of the child’s Aadhar card, birth certificate, school ID card or passport with them. If during checking the age of the child is found to be more than 5 years and does not have a valid ticket, or if the age is more than 12 years and is traveling on a half ticket, then as per railway rules, the fine for traveling without ticket and the entire remaining fare can be recovered on the spot.