Indian Railways: If you are travelling by train with a general ticket, then you need to pay special attention to the rules related to it. A small mistake can lead to a hefty fine. The validity of these tickets is only for a few hours. In such a situation, you should catch the train immediately after buying the ticket. If there is a lot of delay, the validity of these tickets expires.
Indian Railways Rules: Today people give first priority to Indian Railways for long journeys. Many categories have been provided for passengers to travel in the train. These include categories like General, Sleeper, AC. Similarly, some general coaches are installed in the train. There is no need for reservation to travel in these coaches. In such a situation, if you are traveling through a general ticket, then it is very important to know about its rules. You may have to face a penalty in case of a mistake. Let us tell you that general tickets also have validity. Under this, travel is done through these tickets.
Railways has fixed a time limit for starting the journey to stop the trick of traveling throughout the day on unreserved tickets. Earlier, due to the rule without time restriction, tickets were being misused. Due to this, the railways were suffering a lot of financial loss. To stop this, the railways have fixed a time limit for general tickets in 2016.
Start the journey within 3 hours after purchasing a general ticket
According to the rules of Indian Railways, if you have to travel up to 199 km, then it is necessary to catch the train within 3 hours of buying a general ticket. On the other hand, if the journey is of 200 km or more, then general ticket can be bought 3 days in advance. If a passenger buys a ticket for a distance of less than 199 km, then he has to start the journey before the first train leaving the station where he has to go or within 3 hours of buying the ticket. In such a situation, if your ticket is for a distance of 199 km, then you have to travel immediately after 3 hours.
You may have to pay a fine
If this is not done, then it is considered as a journey without a ticket and a fine is charged. On the other hand, if you do not start the journey within 3 hours, you can neither cancel the ticket nor travel on any other train. Some people used to take their tickets and sell them to someone else as soon as they completed their journey on general tickets. Due to which they used to travel on general tickets throughout the day. To stop this fraud, the Railways has taken this step.