Lok Sabha Question No. 4404 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: Non-resumption of Senior Citizen concession
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: S. Venkatesan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4404 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.03.2022

## NON-RESUMPTION OF SENIOR CITIZENS CONCESSION

## 4404. SHRI S. VENKATESAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)    the  number  of  senior  citizens  who    availed    concession  and  the amount of revenue foregone as a result of concession during 201920;
- (b)    the  number  of  senior    citizens    who    actually    travelled  and  the amount of concession saved during 20 March, 2020 to 31 March, 2021 and 1 April 2021 till  date  in  the  current  Financial  Year  (FY) after the withdrawal of the said concession;
- (c)   whether the amount of concession saved is meagre as compared to the earnings of Railways and most of the senior citizens have been fully vaccinated; and
- (d)   if so, the reasons for non-resumption of senior citizen concession?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.4404  BY  SHRI  S.  VENKATESAN  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 30.03.2022 REGARDING NONRESUMPTION OF SENIOR CITIZENS CONCESSION

(a):    Approximately 12 Crore Senior Citizen passengers (both reserved and  unreserved)  availed  concession  in  passenger  fare  during  2019-20 and revenue foregone due to concession on this account for the same period was approximately ` 1667 Crore.

(b)  &  (c):  Since  age  of  unreserved  senior  Citizen  Passengers  in Unreserved ticketing system (UTS) is not captured and concession to this  category  were  withdrawn  from  20.03.2020,  data  for  unreserved Senior  citizen  passenger  is  not  available  for  the  mentioned  period. However,  the  number  of  reserved  Senior  Citizen  passengers  travelled during mentioned period are as under:-

| Period                           |   No. of Senior Citizens who travelled (Figures in Crore) |
|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
| 20 March2020 to 31 March 2021    |                                                      1.87 |
| 1 April 2021 to 28 February 2022 |                                                      4.74 |

Since age of unreserved senior citizen passengers is not captured and some  of  the  Senior  citizen  passengers  do  not  avail  concessions therefore actual saving cannot be determined.

(d): In view of Pandemic & Covid Protocol, with effect from 20.03.2020 Railways has continued concession to only four categories of Divyangjan, eleven categories of Patients, and Students. Due  to challenges  posed  by  Covid-19,  total  passenger  revenue  generated during  2020-21 is  less  in  comparison  to  the  year  2019-2020  Pre-Covid period. Cost of granting concessions weigh heavily on Railways, hence extending  the  scope  of  concessions  to  all  categories  of  passengers including senior citizens is not desirable at present.

In  spite  of  above  challenges,  Railways  has  continued  to  provide concessions  to  passengers  namely  four  categories  of  Divyangjans, eleven categories of Patients, and Students.

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