Madras HC notice to railways on new tatkal rules

The legality of the Indian Railways' new tatkal ticket rules scrapping the provision for refund of a cancelled ticket fare, has been questioned in the Madras high court.The first bench comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam issued notice to the Railway Board and Southern Railway, after advocate S Mohan submitted that the no-refund clause would benefit the railways and its staff, and not the travelling public. The public interest writ petition, filed by S Srinivasa Narayanan of Ayanavaram, contended that prior to November 11, the tatkal booking started two days ahead of the actual travel date. Also, the earlier rule provided for refund of at least 25% of refund of the tatkal ticket fare, if the cancellation was done 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train. Under certain circumstances such as delay of the train beyond three hours at the originating point, the entire ticket fare shall be refunded as per the earlier norms. For more info visit www.pnr-status-enquiry.co.in