Railways issued a statement in which it said," As per instruction issued dated Sept 23, 2017, in case of cancellation of tickets, refund amount due as per Railway Cancellation of tickets and Refund of Fare Rule along with the total amount of GST charged at the time of booking is refunded in full."

"However, cancellation/clerkage charge applicable as per Refund rule & GST amount on cancellation/clerkage charge is retained by Railways. This is applicable only in AC & 1st class. GST is collected on behalf of the Finance Ministry. No change in rules/provision," the statement further added.

Meanwhile according to the existing rules, If a confirmed ticket is cancelled more than 48 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train, flat cancellation charges shall be deducted @ Rs.240/- for AC First Class/Executive Class, Rs.200/- for AC 2 Tier/First Class, Rs. 180 for AC 3 Tier/AC Chair car/ AC 3 Economy, Rs.120/- for Sleeper Class and Rs.60/- for Second Class. Cancellation charges are per passenger.

If a confirmed ticket is cancelled within 48 hrs and up to 12 hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charges shall be 25% of the fare subject to the minimum flat rate mentioned in the above clause. Less than 12 hours and upto four hours before the scheduled departure of the train up to chart preparation which is earlier, 50% of the fare paid subject to the minimum cancellation charges. The Chart preparation time is the time for the chart preparation from the train Originating Station or from the previous chart Preparation station.

Cancellation of e-Tickets after the preparation of Reservation charts:

For Normal User:- E-ticket cannot be cancelled after chart preparation. Users are requested to use the online TDR filing for such cases and track Status of the refund case through tracking service provided by IRCTC. TDR can be filed as per Railway rules:

No refund of fare shall be admissible on the tickets having confirmed reservation in case the ticket is not cancelled or TDR not filed online upto four hours before the scheduled departure of the train.

No refund of fare shall be admissible on RAC e-tickets is case the ticket is not cancelled or TDR not filed online upto thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.

In case, on a party e-ticket or a family e-ticket issued for travel of more than one passenger, some passengers have confirmed reservation and others are on RAC or waiting list, full refund of fare , less clerkage, shall be admissible for confirmed passengers also subject to the condition that the ticket shall be cancelled online or online TDR shall be filed for all the passengers upto thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of the train.