Child Travel Norms: A response from the Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act revealed that the revised rules are expected to result in the Railways earning Rs 560 crore in 2022-23.
Indian Railways Rules: If you also often travel by train, then you must be aware of the changes in its rules from time to time. Indian Railways has earned extra Rs 2,800 crore in the last seven years by changing the child travel norms. This information has come to light in response to an RTI.
Railways to earn Rs 560 crore in 2022-23
A response from the Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act revealed that the revised rules are expected to result in the Railways earning Rs 560 crore in 2022-23. In this way it became the most profitable year. CRIS, under the Ministry of Railways, provides IT solutions in core areas such as ticketing and passenger handling, freight services, rail traffic control and operations.
The rule came into effect from April 21, 2016
The Railway Ministry had announced on March 31, 2016 that the Railways would charge full fare for children aged between five years and 12 years. This rule will be applicable when children need a separate berth or seat in the reserved coach. This rule was implemented from April 21, 2016. Earlier, Railways used to provide berths to children aged five to 12 years by charging half the fare. Under the second option, even if the child travels with his guardian without taking a separate berth, he will have to pay half the fare.
CRIS has given figures from the financial year 2016-17 to 2022-23 based on fare options for two categories of children. Data shows that in these seven years, more than 3.6 crore children traveled by paying half fare without choosing the option of reserved seat or berth. On the other hand, more than 10 crore children opted for a separate berth or seat and paid the full fare. RTI applicant Chandrashekhar Gaur said, ‘The response also shows that about 70 percent of the total children traveling by railways prefer to take a berth or seat by paying the full fare.’
