Lok Sabha Question No. 1546 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Confirmed Tickets for Waitlisted Passengers
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: ANTO  ANTONY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1546 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018

## CONFIRMED TICKETS FOR WAITLISTED PASSENGERS

1546.  SHRI ANTO ANTONY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  note  of  the  plight  of  the overwhelming majority of the waitlisted passengers of the Railways, who are forced to cancel the tickets or compelled to travel without having berths despite a number of berths being vacant;
- (b)  if  so,  the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  redress  the grievance of passengers in this regard;
- (c) whether the Government has received any representation on the aforementioned issue;
- (d)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  response  of  the  Government thereto;
- (e)  whether  the  Government  will  propose  to  introduce  a  new mechanism  for  railways  to  enhance  the  chances  of  confirmed tickets; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof including the salient features of the new mechanism?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) to (f) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1546 BY SHRI ANTO ANTONY TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 19.12.2018 REGARDING CONFIRMED TICKETS FOR WAITLISTED PASSENGERS

(a)  to  (d):      In  the  computerised  Passenger  Reservation  System (PRS), confirmed berths/seats are allotted on first come first served basis till the availability and thereafter Reservation Against Cancellation  (RAC)/Waiting  List  tickets  are  issued.  The  status  of RAC/Waiting  List  tickets  get  automatically  updated  against  the cancellation of confirmed berths/seats and also against release of unutilised reservation quotas.

While  earmarking  reservation  quota  in  a  train,  the  broad principle  is  that  approximately  70%  of  the  accommodation  is earmarked for originating to destination stations whereas remaining is  distributed  amongst  roadside  stations  which  are  defined  in cluster as remote locations. Exceptions to this rule are also made by the Railway wherever situation so warrant keeping in view the demand. At times, the accommodation earmarked from some road side stations is vacant whereas that from originating station is full. Further if no one is booked from originating station to that remote, it gives  an  impression  that  accommodation  is  vacant  but  there  is waiting  list.  Hence  this  type  of  impression  goes  when  there  is waiting list  for  the  end-to-end  leg  of  journey,  but  for  partial  leg  of journey accommodation is available.   This issue has been raised on various forums e.g. through Right to Information (RTI), Centralized Public  Grievance  Redress  and  Monitoring  System  (CPGRAMS)  etc. Whenever any such reference is received, the position is explained accordingly. Separate statistics of such references is not maintained.

(e)  &  (f):  To  facilitate  those  passengers  who  have  to  undertake journey  at  short  notice  and  to  save  such  passengers  from  the clutches of unscrupulous elements, Tatkal scheme of reservation is available where the accommodation becomes available for booking on  the  previous  day  of  journey  from  train  originating  station. Further, with a view to provide confirmed accommodation to waiting list passengers  and  to  ensure  optimal  utilisation of available accommodation, a scheme known as Alternate Train Accommodation  (ATAS)  known  as  'VIKALP'  has  been  introduced. For this facility, waiting list passenger has to give an option at the time of booking of ticket & passengers with waiting list status at the  time  of  preparation  of  first  reservation  charts  are  shifted  to other trains, subject to availability of vacant accommodation. Broad features of the scheme are as under:

- The scheme is applicable to all passengers getting the status of  waiting  list  at  the  time  of  booking  irrespective  of  booking
- i. quota and concession.
- ii. Under this scheme, Waiting list passengers can give choice to opt for VIKALP scheme.
- iii. VIKALP  opted  passengers  who  remain  fully  waitlisted  after charting  are  only  considered  for  allotment  in  the  alternate train.
- iv.
- This scheme is applicable to all types of trains on all sectors.
- v. Either  all  passengers  of  a  Passenger  Name  Record  (PNR)  or none is transferred to alternate train in same class.

- vi. The passenger can be considered for shifting to a train leaving from  any  station  amongst  the  cluster  of  stations  defined  by Railways  based  on  the  convenience  of  the  passengers  to  a station serving the destination station on the same analogy.
- vii. Waitlisted passengers of original train are not allowed to board the original train if allotted alternate accommodation.
- viii. Passengers once provided alternate accommodation in alternate train are treated as normal passengers in alternate train and are eligible for up gradation.
- ix. When a VIKALP opted passenger opts to cancel, after he/she has been given an alternate accommodation, he/she is treated as  a  confirmed  passenger  and  the  cancellation  rules  apply accordingly.
- x. No refund for difference of fare between the original train and the alternate train, including Tatkal charges, if any, is given to re-allocated passengers or realised from them.
- xi. Once a VIKALP passenger has been allotted alternate accommodation, journey modification is not permitted.

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